COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Cyprus Accompanying the document Report From The Commission To The European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic And Social Committee And The Committee Of The Regions identifying Member States at risk of not meeting the 2025 preparing for re-use and recycling target for municipal waste, the 2025 recycling target for packaging waste and the 2035 municipal waste landfilling reduction target
Date: 2023-06-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: Cyprus, EU environmental policy, application of EU law, carbon neutrality, circular economy, municipal waste, packaging product, prevention of pollution, storage of waste, waste recycling

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.6.2023  SWD(2023) 186 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Cyprus          Accompanying the document Report From The Commission To The European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic And Social Committee And The Committee Of The Regions  identifying Member States at risk of not meeting the 2025 preparing for re-use and recycling target for municipal waste, the 2025 recycling target for packaging waste and the 2035 municipal waste landfilling reduction target       {COM(2023) 304 final} - {SWD(2023) 175 final} - {SWD(2023) 176 final} - {SWD(2023) 180 final} - {SWD(2023) 181 final} - {SWD(2023) 182 final} - {SWD(2023) 183 final} - {SWD(2023) 184 final} - {SWD(2023) 185 final} - {SWD(2023) 187 final} - {SWD(2023) 188 final} - {SWD(2023) 189 final} - {SWD(2023) 195 final} - {SWD(2023) 196 final} - {SWD(2023) 197 final} - {SWD(2023) 198 final} - {SWD(2023) 199 final} - {SWD(2023) 200 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction 

The early warning report aims to assist Member States at risk of failing to meet: (i) the 2025 target of 55% for 
the preparing for re-use and the recycling of their municipal waste (this target is set out in Article 11(2)(c) of 
Directive 2008/98/EC); and (ii) the 2025 target of 65% for the recycling of their packaging waste (this target 
is set out in Article 6(1)(f) of Directive 1994/62/EC). It also provides an update on how Member States are 
performing against the 2035 target to send no more than 10% of their municipal waste to landfill (this target 
is set out in Article 5(5) Directive 1999/31/EC).  

This report builds on previous support provided by the Commission to help Member States comply with EU 
law on municipal waste management, including, where relevant, the early warning report from 20181. 

The assessment underpinning the early warning report identified 18 Member States at risk of missing the 2025 
preparing for re-use and recycling target for municipal waste, 10 of which are also at risk of missing the 2025 
recycling target for all packaging waste. 

This assessment is based on a collaborative and transparent process involving the Member States concerned, 
the European Environment Agency2, and an in-depth analysis of the most recent policy developments in the 
Member States. This process also involved extensive consultation with the Member State authorities in charge 
of waste management. The possible actions identified during this process are based on existing best practices 
and aim to help Member States meet the 2025 targets, and as such they focus on policy measures which can 
be  taken  in  the  short  term.  These  actions  should  be  seen  as  complementary  to  those  recommended  in  the 
roadmaps  which  were  drawn  up  as  part  of  preceding  compliance-promotion  activities  and  to  those 
recommended in the Environmental Implementation Review3. 

2.  Key findings 

Based  on  the  analysis  of  collected  data  and  existing  policies  in  the  area  of  waste  management,  Cyprus  is 
considered to be at risk of missing the 2025 target of 55% for the preparing for re-use and the recycling of 
municipal waste; it is also at risk of missing the 2025 target to recycle 65% of packaging waste. The distance 
to the 2035 target to landfill 10% of municipal waste is also of concern. 

In  2019,  municipal  waste  generation  in  Cyprus  (648 kg/person)  was  well  above  the  EU  average 
(502 kg/person),  which  might  be  due  to  the  high  to  touristic  activity.  On  the  other  hand,  packaging  waste 
generated in 2019 was about half the EU average (92 kg/person vs 177 kg/person). This seemingly low figure 
may indicate that significant quantities of packaging placed on the market, which is used for the amount of 
generated  packaging  waste,  are  not  reported.  In  addition,  a  significant  share  of  generated  municipal  waste 
remains unaccounted for in terms of treatment (17% in 2019). This is primarily due to temporary storage and 
losses  during  mechanical  biological  treatment  processes.  However,  this  might  also  indicate  some  direct 
landfilling in irregular or substandard facilities4. 

In 2020, the municipal waste recycling rate reported by Cyprus was 16.8% (which is over 38 percentage points 
below the 2025 target of 55%), and the landfill rate was 67.0% (about three times the EU average). General 

1 An early  warning report was issued  for Cyprus in 2018 (SWD(2018) 415 final). In total, 13 recommendations were 
drafted  within  the  assessment.  According  to  Cypriot  authorities,  3  of  those  recommendations  are  considered  to  be 
implemented, 5 partially implemented and 5 not implemented..  
2 EEA and ETC/CE (2022). Early Warning Assessment Related to the 2025 Targets for Municipal and Packaging Waste 
(https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/country-profiles-early-warning-assessments) 
3  European  Commission  (2022).  Environmental  Implementation  Review  2022.  COM/2022/438  final.  (https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=comnat%3ACOM_2022_0438_FIN) 
4  See  Waste  management  section  of  European  Commission  (2022).  Environmental  Implementation  Review  2022. 
COM/2022/438 final. (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=comnat%3ACOM_2022_0438_FIN). 

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trends  in  waste  management  are  also  of  concern:  the  recycling  rate  remained  stagnant  over  2016-2020 
(approximately 16%), and the landfill rate only slightly decreased (by about 9 percentage points between 2016 
and 2020). 

Too low composting and digesting rates are considered a key reason for this performance. The current separate 
collection and treatment capacity for  biowaste is insufficient for the  total amount of  biowaste generated in 
Cyprus. The amount of municipal waste sent to landfill also remains too high. 

In 2019, the recycling rate for all packaging reached 66.8%, which is above the 2025 target (65%). However, 
there are issues with the quality of data on packaging. For instance, there is a notable discrepancy between the 
low  recycling  rate  for  municipal  waste  and the  high  recycling  rates  for  packaging  waste. The  data sets  on 
municipal waste and packaging waste appear to be inconsistent, given that a large share of packaging waste is 
generated by households and so it is part of municipal waste. In 2020 the recycling rate for all packaging waste 
decreased to 59.9%. 

Cyprus has recently put in place measures to reverse the situation and achieve the above-mentioned targets. 
However, this has still not resulted in measurable effects, and efforts should be stepped up significantly in 
order to reach all 2025 targets. Significant improvements are needed to put waste management in Cyprus in 
line with the EU’s waste hierarchy. Some of the main challenges facing waste management in the country 
include: 

- 
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excessive reliance on landfilling and the lack of a landfill tax; 
insufficient infrastructure and systems for the separate collection and treatment of biowaste, including 
low compost quality and no dedicated quality management system; 

-  data quality issues related to generated packaging waste. 

3.  Key recommendations 

Among  the  measures  deemed  necessary  to  support  Cyprus’  efforts  to  improve  its  performance  in  waste 
management, three main recommendations are listed below. 

1.  Support preparing for re-use of municipal waste and re-use systems for packaging 

2.  Roll out separate collection at source across the entire country (especially for biowaste) and improve 
public awareness  on sorting  waste and  waste  prevention. The country should implement economic 
instruments, such  as  pay-as-you-throw  systems,  and  introduce a  landfill tax  to incentivise  separate 
collection and minimise the amount of landfilled waste. 

3.  Further develop waste treatment infrastructure associated with the higher steps of the waste hierarchy 
(in particular by increasing capacity for treating biowaste and supporting home composting) and set 
national quality standards for compost/digestate from biowaste. 

4.  Cyprus should improve its data management system in order to present consistent and verifiable data 

sets (especially on packaging waste). 

The table below lists a number of possible actions to support Cyprus’ efforts to improve its performance in 
waste management. 

4.  Good practices 

The  following  measures  implemented  by  Cyprus  are  considered  good  practices  contributing  to  the 
improvement of its recycling performance. 

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-  National plan to promote the use of compost from biowaste – This programme gives major financial 
support  to farmers applying a certain minimum amount of biowaste-derived compost on their land 
(EUR 1 600/hectare for grain, and EUR 1 200/hectare for other crops). Potential beneficiaries include 
all  owners  of  agricultural  holdings  larger  than  0.3  hectares.  The  programme  is  funded  under  the 
country’s 2023-2027 common agricultural policy strategic plan. 

-  Waste reduction  programme for the tourism industry – ‘Municipal  waste reduction programme for 
coastal hotel and related tourism infrastructure in Limassol and Paphos’ is a project aimed at local 
authorities that have coastal hotels and tourist infrastructure. It aims  to set up a system for sorting 
waste at source and the separate collection of recyclable and organic waste from large waste producers 
(such as hotels, tourist complexes, restaurants, leisure centres and institutions). 

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OVERVIEW OF POSSIBLE ACTIONS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE 

Governance 

1)  Address  data  quality  issues,  especially  those  related  to  generated  and  recycled  quantities  of 

packaging waste.  

2)  Set national standards for compost and digestate produced in biowaste treatment plants; this should 
help create a strong demand for those products used for fertilising purposes. The standards should 
be developed in close dialogue with the farming community. 

3)  Set up a coordinating body at government level that gives clear direction and the necessary technical 
support to municipalities. The body should provide up-to-date guidance on the separate collection 
of recyclable and reusable materials and biowaste. In particular, the guidance should focus on the 
following: 
a. waste prevention; 
b. choosing collection services; 
c. procuring services; 
d. managing services; 
e. communication campaigns. 
This  guidance  should  also  share  ideas  and  best  practices  to  improve  cost  efficiency  and 
performance. 

4)  Set mandatory indicators and targets for separate waste collection to be achieved by the bodies in 
charge of the collection of municipal waste (e.g. municipalities) in order to monitor, enforce and 
achieve higher capture rates. This could be complemented with a system of financial rewards and 
penalties  dependant  on  the  performance  of  the  bodies  against  the  targets.  Information  on  the 
performance of those bodies could also be made available to the general public to raise awareness 
(e.g. on a website). 

Prevention 

5)  Take measures to increase re-use and to prevent the generation of non-recyclable municipal waste 

6)  Swiftly  adopt  the  waste  prevention  programme.  The  country  should  properly  monitor 
implementation  of  waste  prevention  measures and ensure  sufficient  budget  is  allocated  to  them. 
Cyprus should also foster coordination between the central and the local government to achieve EU 
waste prevention objectives. 

Separate collection 

7)  Consider a mandatory deposit-refund scheme for beverage packaging, including the promotion of 

multi-use packaging over single-use packaging.  

Waste treatment  

8)  Support preparing for re-use of municipal waste and develop waste-treatment infrastructure in a 
way that focuses on the higher steps of the waste hierarchy. Firm plans and concrete actions are 
needed,  such  as  supplementing  centralised  biowaste  treatment  with  decentralised  composting 
solutions such as home composting and community composting. 

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9)  Develop waste treatment infrastructure associated with the higher steps of the waste hierarchy. Firm 
plans and concrete action are needed, such as supporting home composting and increasing capacity 
for treating biowaste to fully cover all generated biowaste.  

Communication and awareness-raising 

10) Step up awareness-raising activities specifically tailored to different target groups (e.g. households, 
commercial  waste  generators,  schoolteachers,  students  and  tourists)  to  increase  participation  in 
separate collection. A set of national communication materials should be developed for use at local 
level.  The  materials  should  have  clear  and  consistent  messages  and  have  a  particular  focus  on 
biowaste,  home  composting  and  sound  management  of  waste  (e.g.  sorting).  Communication 
material (e.g. leaflets) could be made available in English to help tourists contribute to sorting waste. 

Extended producer responsibility and economic instruments 

11) Quickly implement a pay-as-you-throw system for both businesses and households to attain higher 
capture rates for recyclable fractions and reduce residual waste. Local authorities could be supported 
through guidance on how to design incentive mechanisms and create pilot projects to test and refine 
them. 

12) Implement economic instruments (e.g. landfill taxes of a sufficient magnitude) to incentivise waste 
management focused on the higher steps of the waste hierarchy. This should make reuse, preparation 
for  reuse  and  recycling  economically  attractive  and  reduce  dependency  on  landfilling.  The 
economic incentive should be designed and sufficiently large to effectively steers trends in waste 
management up the waste hierarchy. 

13) Stepping up efforts to establish reuse systems for packaging will bring environmental benefits and 

help Member States in complying with the EU packaging recycling targets. 

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