Recycling units heading to a municipality near you

ALL OF THE island’s municipalities will soon have their own recycling units for old cars and electrical equipment.

The Cabinet will be given the complete management plan by the end of April, while the public information campaign is expected to begin soon.

“But what we must first manage is the current situation,” said Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis yesterday.

At the moment, due to the lack of appropriate recycling systems in Cyprus, unwanted cars and machinery are scattered in open areas.

Sylikiotis has admitted that implementing the plan will be a hard task due to Cyprus’ short-sightedness in matters regarding the environment and ecological conscience.

The government’s recycling plan was presented on Tuesday by the minister along with Agriculture Minister Photis Photiou.

“There are hundreds of areas all over Cyprus, which were found by the Interior Ministry in every community and municipality, where members of the public dump cars and old equipment uncontrollably,” said Sylikiotis.

“We will go to the Cabinet with a specific proposal,” he added. “It involves procedures to gather all these old cars and machines so that we can take them to the recycling units, two of which have already been approved and are operating. There are also proceedings to approve other units in all districts.”

The minister expressed the estimation that it would take around two years to fully implement the system, “but we must do it”.

Until then, the ministry is planning to form temporary areas where members of the public can go and dump items, which will be collected by the approved recycling units.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.