Amphitheatre CYTA
On behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Together Cyprus Environmental and Voluntary Network for its awareness raising initiatives, and active participation of the public on issues related to the protection, conservation and sustainable management of the environment in Cyprus.
I would like to emphasize first of all that the effort and success of "Let's Do It! Cyprus" is a ray of light and hope both for the environment in which we live and for the need for social action through volunteering.
Environmental protection is one of the key objectives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and it is being promoted to ensure a unified policy and legislation aimed at the sustainable use of waste, overturning the perception that waste is a problem and bringing it back into the cycle in order to use it as a resource, giving it value and life again.
Through the Municipal Waste Management Plan 2022-2028, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment promotes the implementation of important projects such as the programme to support Local Authorities with the implementation of source separation and separate collection systems for municipal waste and the Pay As You Throw scheme. It also promotes the programme for the prevention, separate collection and recovery of municipal waste in mountainous and semi-mountainous Cyprus, the programme for the reduction of municipal waste from seaside hotels and other mass waste generating sites and the financing of investments in the organic waste treatment sector. Projects such as the construction of repair and reuse centres, the creation of green recycling kiosks and household composting of organic waste are also planned. The proper and effective implementation of this policy requires, above all, the equal participation of all stakeholders and all social groups.
The revision of the institutional framework is also important, with the adoption of the Waste (Management of Municipal Waste by Local Government Authorities) Regulations, defining the obligations of Local Government Authorities to establish a system of source separation and separate collection of municipal waste from July 2024, including organic waste and the implementation of the Pay As I Spend system, in order to provide the necessary financial incentives to citizens for the proper sorting of their waste for reuse and recycling.
In the period 2021-2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, in cooperation with the Offices of the Environment and Voluntary Service Commissioners and the Ministry of Interior, successfully organized the nationwide cleanliness campaign "See Clean". The aim of the campaign was to tackle the phenomenon of illegal dumping and accumulation of waste throughout free Cyprus. The campaign was structured around three pillars, which were cleanliness, control and awareness.
The first pillar concerned the cleanliness of places where there is systematic dumping of rubbish. The second pillar concerned surveillance, preventing uncontrolled accumulation of litter and taking measures to control the sites after they have been cleaned up. While the third pillar was aimed at informing and raising awareness among citizens, with the aim of encouraging voluntary participation and creating a "green consciousness".
With sensitised citizens and targeted actions, we can certainly hope for better days. For this reason, our Ministry aims to continue and strengthen cleanliness actions and supports all relevant initiatives. Therefore, we invite all stakeholders and especially all Local Authorities in Cyprus to proceed in a similar manner and will receive the support of our Ministry.
Thank you very much, and again my warm congratulations on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment.
(MGS/EP)
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