Ypsonas to launch pilot rewards programme for recycling

Ypsonas municipality in Limassol will launch a pilot program in October to reward citizens who recycle, offering them a reduction of up to 30 per cent on their annual rubbish fee, mayor Pantelis Georgiou said on Tuesday.

A mobile application has been developed, as part of the programme, allowing citizens to notify the municipality once recycling bins are full.

The programme, which aims to reduce residential waste ending up in landfills, will start on October 1 for a period of six months.

Georgiou said that 100 households interested in taking part in the programme will receive two bins for free – one for paper and one for PMD – with a capacity of 110 litres each.

Participants will be rewarded with “units” based on the frequency they recycle, which they will redeem at the end of the year, paying thus up to 30 per cent less for rubbish collection fees.

When fully functional, the programme will record data from participating households to plan an optimum route for rubbish trucks and reduce collection time.

The idea emerged after Ecofy, a newly founded company, won the Smart City Hackathon competition organised by Cyta. The Municipality then asked Ecofy to develop the mobile app. The goal is to include more households after the end of the six-month pilot period.

The initiative was also welcomed by the Environment Commissioner Ioanna Panayiotou.

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