Integrated municipal solid waste management
Pilot application in the Municipality of Aradippou and the Communities of Kellia, Troulloi and Koshi within the LIFE IP CYzero WASTE Project

A comprehensive and innovative municipal waste management plan is coming to Cyprus! Its application will be implemented by the Municipality of Aradippou, together with the communities of Troulloi, Kellia and Koshi, as a single pilot municipality, through the LIFE IP CYZero Waste Project.

The plan will include the “Pay As You Throw” system, while it will be effectively combined with a “Sort at Source” program.

The ultimate goal is to reduce the disposal and burial of mixed waste from 78.8% in 2022 to 10% in 2035.

With an emphasis on sorting at the source, kitchen waste, which constitutes 40% of municipal solid waste, will be separated and disposed only in special bins inside and outside the household, from where it will be collected by the licensed company, with which is contracted by the Municipality.

Recyclables (PMD, paper/cardboard) will be collected once a week from door-to-door by Green Dot. A necessary condition is that citizens place them in the respective bags, the paper in the brown bag and the PMD in the transparent one. The glass must be transported to the special bell type bins that exist in many accessible places.

Similar special bins will exist for reusable items of clothing and footwear, as well as for batteries (AFIS columns) or other hazardous household waste.

At the Green Point, citizens will be able to transport, completely free of charge, bulky waste, such as electrical and electronic equipment, mattresses, furniture, prunings, lamps and more.

As long as the Sorting at Source is carried out correctly, the remainder of the mixed waste from each household will be minimal and will be disposed of in a pre-paid bag. Citizens of the pilot municipality will be able to purchase this bag from specific points of sale.

Households will be provided with biodegradable bags for organics, which will be placed in the small brown bin (10 liters) in the kitchen. Food scraps will be disposed of in the bin and when the bag is full, it will be removed, tied and placed in the bin located outside the house.

Kitchen waste will first be thrown in the special 10 liter brown bins in households, and in businesses in 240 or 360 litres bins and then once full, will be placed in bins outside the buildings (in 40 liter bins for houses and in 240 or 360 liters bins for apartment buildings and businesses).

Fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, pasta, rice, flour, cereals and pulses, bakery products, dairy products, eggs, coffee and tea residues, nuts and expired solid foods can be placed in these bins.

In small quantities, it is possible to place garden waste, plain white paper towels, ashes and sawdust, while used sanitary items, pet excrement, liquids, cooking oils or fats, plastic bags or packaging of any kind must not be placed.

From there, they will be collected by a special waste truck and transported to the Koshi Integrated Waste Management Facility, where they will be aerobically treated to produce high-quality fertilizer.

The benefits of participation
1. High purity of recyclable materials due to separate sorting at the source
2. Greater recovery of recyclable materials
3. Reduction of the cost of transporting the waste to the Koshi Integrated Waste Management Facility
4. Production of high added value fertilizer
5. Reduction of the cost of waste management in the Koshi Integrated Waste Management Facility
6. Reduction of waste that ends up being deposited at the Koshi Integrated Waste Management Facility
7. Financial benefit