Every year hundreds of thousands of tons of waste from excavations, constructions, and demolitions are scattered in open spaces or illegally buried, without substantial control, to the detriment of the environment and taxpayers in cases where the government or local authorities are obliged to move large volumes of such materials.
The volume of waste disposed of hastily, according to estimates from businessmen, indicates that identifying and punishing those responsible is almost impossible to achieve, given that they must be caught in the act of illegal dumping.
It is noted that some abandon waste, allegedly temporarily, but the temporariness lasts from a few to several months, without anyone bothering them.
Control could be exercised based on provisions of the legislation which obliges the owners of management units to inform the competent Services what enters and exits the units, who delivers the material, etc.
At the same time, authorities could, based on the data kept or supposed to be kept, determine who transports what (from concrete, wood, or other materials) to ensure traceability.
Moreover, there is the possibility of conducting inspections at construction sites or management units, something that seems not to be functioning.
As reported by Phileleftheros, based on the development observed in recent years in licensed management units, approximately one and a half million tons of waste from excavations, constructions, and demolitions (C&D) had to be “wholesale” transferred, according to estimates.
However, it seems that only about half of the quantities end up in the units when one can perceive the magnitude of the problem created by uncontrolled waste disposal and the fact that they are not managed.
In EU countries the percentage of inert materials reused in works after processing/management is around 10%, while in countries such as France, Germany, and others, about 25% is reused.
Even if some materials are reused in Cyprus, the percentage is negligible.
The problem of waste disposal from constructions and generally from works has always been observed, but after February 2019, the situation worsened.
This is because the Kotsiatis landfill where all kinds of C&D waste were disposed of, closed.
There, where one could dispose of all kinds of waste for €10, now the transportation costs have increased significantly.
Today, to dispose of the same materials (if it is C&D waste, etc.) one must pay €150 for each skip.
Various contractors believe they save money by assigning skip owners to dispose of their waste, instead of ensuring it is transported to licensed units.
Some of the skip owners charge about €150 per skip. Still, because not all are consistent, to avoid paying the €80-€90 that the licensed unit will charge (for mixed materials) to manage the materials, the “free” disposal of waste in various places is preferred (from open spaces, ravines, riverbeds, streams, etc.).
The €150 charged by the contractor includes the fees collected by the licensed unit, transportation costs, and the skip owner’s wages.
Out of the €80-€90 collected by a licensed unit, the cost of managing materials such as plastics, wood, and others, which are utilized by specialized units for alternative energy production, will also be paid.
Of course, there is also the option of transporting waste to open storage areas owned by skip owners and collecting whatever valuable materials are in the bin, which usually consists of the iron from constructions.
Once sorted, the remaining waste is buried or disposed of anywhere.
Not all management units have the same cost, as it seems that not all comply with the legislation.
Specifically, some units appear to simply choose to illegally bury all the waste when, if they collect €80-€90 for each skip and simply bury the waste without managing it, they avoid the cost of sorting/managing and additionally, they are not taxed based on what they collect, which also contributes to unfair competition among the management units themselves.
Direct burial without processing is so advantageous that some waste producers prefer, instead of taking them to the nearest (to them) management unit (paying the regular fee), to transport them to other provinces where burial costs less, including transportation costs.
