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It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Cyprus and the workshop on the effective management of Construction and Demolition Waste (C&DW), organised by the Environment Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment (MARD), following the recommendation of the Cyprus Concrete Builders Association.
I am well aware of the problems and challenges we have to face with regard to the management of MSW and its impact on the environment and existing natural resources. Construction and demolition waste currently accounts for 25-30% of all waste generated in Europe and is one of the heaviest and most voluminous wastes to be managed. The increasing demand for more and more materials from the construction sector is putting unbearable pressure on existing natural resources and on the preservation of the environment. These challenges are not limited to the boundaries of our island, but are a pan-European issue and decisive action and targeted solutions are needed to achieve the recycling target of 70% for this waste stream.
Since 2016, when the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment was given the responsibility to define the framework for the management of construction and demolition waste, the Department of Environment found that the situation was tragic, as Construction and Demolition Waste was ending up in landfills and fields uncontrolled, or, at best, in two facilities that mostly functioned as landfills.
The Department organised meetings and conferences, consulted with all stakeholders and took measures along four main lines:
a) improving the legal framework;
b) promoting waste prevention and reuse/recovery/recycling of materials from construction and demolition waste treatment;
c) the establishment, by the private sector, of a network of construction and demolition waste treatment facilities; and
d) intensifying environmental controls.
In the context of preparing new regulations and policy formulation for the management of Construction and Demolition Waste, the Environment Department held numerous meetings and consultations with other competent authorities and stakeholders, and made tremendous efforts to reconcile the different views and especially the reactions to the change in the legal framework, which in the context of the "Polluter Pays Principle" would mean increased management costs and a reduction in obscenity and illegality.
Having studied and evaluated all the parameters, it proceeded to prepare New Regulations in 2018, which, after consultations, legislative review and debates in the House of Representatives, were published a year ago.
The New Regulations introduced an obligation for producers of Construction and Demolition Waste to maintain an agreement with a licensed Construction and Demolition Waste Management Facility to ensure that the waste ends up in a licensed management facility. All obligations of waste generators, owners and collective and individual schemes are clearly recorded.
For the first time, project owners, through Designers, are required to estimate the quantities of waste and, through Supervising Engineers, to confirm compliance with the Management Plan, which is a key obligation of contractors to ensure that Construction and Demolition Waste is properly managed.
At the same time, the role and obligations of the Individual and Collective Construction and Demolition Waste Management Systems have been upgraded to a significant extent, so that their involvement in the rational management of waste is essential and decisive, since they will check and approve the Management Plans submitted by the contractors. There is also a requirement to create a common electronic database of collective and individual systems.
To increase reuse and recycling rates, the new regulations provide for separate collection of specific waste streams on site for projects with an estimated volume of more than three hundred cubic metres (300 m3) in construction projects, and selective removal and disposal of materials in demolition projects.
In addition to the optimisation of the legal framework, a Technical Committee was set up to promote the use of recyclable materials resulting from the treatment of Construction and Demolition Waste in the context of the implementation of the circular economy. The Commission is composed of the Mining Service (chairman), the Department of Geological Survey, the Department of Environment, the Technical Services of the Ministry of Interior and the Department of Public Works.
The Ministry and the Department of Environment have encouraged the private sector to establish Construction and Demolition Waste Management facilities, resulting in 12 treatment facilities to date from the two units operating in 2016, mostly as landfills.
Despite our efforts, the problems continue. Illegal landfills continue, as do illegal dumping of construction and demolition waste. It is for this reason that, on my instructions, environmental inspections by Environment Department inspectors have been stepped up to curb uncontrolled dumping in the countryside. The implementation of the provision in the Governance Programme for the establishment of an Environmental Inspections Section, which is expected to be staffed by the end of the year, is particularly important, as it will allow more and more frequent environmental inspections to be carried out.
We all acknowledge that steps have been taken, but we have not yet reached the elimination of illegal dumping of MSW and the closure of all illegal waste management sites, which is our goal. It is for this reason that, on my instructions, the Department of Environment is preparing an Action Plan for integrated management of this waste stream.
The Action Plan includes first and foremost the implementation and enforcement of legislation to crack down on illegality, upgrade facilities to produce good quality recyclable materials and increase their number, the compulsory use of recyclable materials in the construction industry to achieve the circular economy through conditions in building and demolition permits, the creation of databases for statistical purposes, the facilitation of controls and, of course, the adoption of all those good practices, implemented in France and elsewhere, which will assist our efforts.
Friends,
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Cyprus Concrete Builders Association for their cooperation, the experts from France, who we are looking forward to hearing what they will present to us, and the Environment Department for the excellent organization.
I wish everyone good luck.
(EFYs/AF/GS)
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