[PIO] Address by Environment Commissioner Dr. Maria Panayiotou at the Environment Department's workshop "Take it or leave it..., put waste in the

It is with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation to welcome today's workshop organised by the Department of Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment on "Take it or leave it..., put waste in the cycle of life", which is taking place in the framework of the European Week for Waste Prevention 2023.

The European Week for Waste Prevention and today's workshop are an excellent opportunity for all of us, the Government, organisations, institutions, civil society and each individual citizen to reflect on our collective responsibility towards the environment of our country and the planet. This is an excellent opportunity to share good practices, look at our actions, discuss and exchange views on the pressing challenges posed by the overproduction of waste in the modern world and the urgent need to reduce and manage it.

This year's European Week for Waste Prevention focuses on a specific category of waste, packaging waste, in order to raise public awareness of its environmental impact. But why is packaging such a big problem? The European Commission's figures for 2022 are truly enlightening and demonstrate the scale of the problem: In 2020, the EU alone produced a total of 79.3 million tonnes of packaging waste, equivalent to 177 kg per person, while packaging accounts for 40% of the plastic and 50% of the paper used in the EU. The same figures report that packaging waste has increased by more than 20% over the last ten years in the EU, particularly as single-use packaging, and is expected to increase by 19% more by 2030. They are also reported to contribute to soil and groundwater pollution, account for around half of marine pollution, and cause carbon dioxide emissions projected to reach 66 million tonnes in 2030. Last but not least, there has been a significant reduction in the reuse of packaging over the last decade, even though this would be a key prevention measure. Therefore, this, above all, is what we should be aiming at, the reshaping of the way we deal with it. Our aim as the Office of the Environment Commissioner is to change attitudes, to start to reduce, reuse and recycle ourselves, so that every material gets the treatment it deserves. To adopt in every aspect of our lives not only the triptych of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, but to go one step further back, to Refuse, which is the most important thing, and which must become our experience. The refusal of the act that pollutes, the refusal of packaging, the bag, the wrapper, the plastic bottle, excessive consumerism.

In this context, and wanting to contribute in our own way to the prevention of waste generation, in April we announced the "Zero Waste to Landfill" action. A joint initiative of First Lady Philippa Carcera Christodoulides and the Office of the Environment Commissioner to transform the Presidential Palace into a Zero Waste to Landfill Building.

The implementation of the action is at an advanced stage: Plastic water bottles have been eliminated, and employees have been provided with reusable canteens which also fosters the habit of using reusable materials and objects. Water coolers have been installed in all Presidency buildings, as well as two composters in the Presidential Palace, and recycling bins have been provided for the main waste streams. The goal, of course, is not to recycle as much as possible, but to reduce as much as possible the disposable materials we use.

As expected, this effort was not limited to the Presidential Palace building alone, but was transferred from the Presidential Palace to all Ministries and Deputy Ministries, and for this purpose the Office of the Environment Commissioner has prepared an Advisory Guide for the Conversion of Ministry and Deputy Ministry Buildings into Zero Waste Buildings, which includes 13 detailed steps. The Guide contributes to the effort to reshape the way we deal with waste and to create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly framework for the operation of government buildings. The Guide was adopted by all Ministries and Deputy Ministries and instructions were given to establish the teams and appoint the leaders to oversee the process, and then the teams and their leaders received their first training at the Presidential Palace.

The Environment Commissioner's Office is monitoring the progress of the implementation of the action and at the same time is playing an advisory role, through the visits of the Environment Commissioner's Office Officers to the various Ministries and Deputy Ministries, in order to resolve further questions, but also to achieve the final goal of verification in zero waste buildings in landfills. At the same time, specifications were prepared by our Office and a proposal was made, with the aim of concluding a framework agreement for the purchase of recycling bins and bags by the entire public service.

This initiative, which also meets the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, is expected to have multiple benefits such as reducing waste, promoting recycling, protecting the environment, promoting sustainable practices and raising environmental awareness. At the same time, we invite private organisations to follow our example. Finally, we believe that by implementing the effort in the workplace, citizens are educated and adopt good practices which they then take home. The importance of this effort lies in the quantitative data of the studies we have conducted. In particular, the adoption of zero waste practices by 100,000 citizens would mean a reduction of 17,237 tonnes of waste produced per year.

In conclusion, I would like to stress that protecting the environment requires the involvement of all of us, with every action, action and decision we take. As individuals, our choices count and have a cumulatively significant impact: From the products we buy to the way we dispose of our waste. This is why it is so important that we all recognise the importance of individual responsibility for protecting the environment. As the famous Antarctic explorer and environmental activist Robert Swan said, "The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."

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