Generation and Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste

Methodological Note on the Generation and Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste

As from the year 2002, the Statistical Service is producing statistics on the amounts of municipal solid waste collected in Cyprus, as well as their distribution by type of treatment and by type of waste.

Up until the reference year 2018, the Statistical Service was carrying out a survey by addressing a questionnaire to all municipal authorities, which are responsible for the collection and treatment of the municipal waste generated. Municipalities were asked to report on the total amount of waste collected. Moreover, they were requested to differentiate this amount by type of waste (bulky waste, garden waste, leaves, grass clippings and materials collected for recycling operations) and by origin
(from households, from commerce and trade, government buildings, office buildings, schools, hospitals, industrial establishments and from municipal services, i.e., street and market cleaning, waste from park and garden maintenance, the content of litter containers in streets). This information could come, either from weighting of the trucks on a sample basis (if this was feasible) or from estimations based on the number of trucks directed daily to the disposal sites, their average input etc.
Municipalities were advised to calculate the amounts of waste collected within two weeks of their choice in February. The survey was repeated in July, in order to take into account seasonal variations.
For the estimation of waste generated by the population residing outside the municipal areas, in communities of the countryside, calculations were made on the basis of the per capita generation of waste derived from the data obtained from the municipalities, as well as according to the
characteristics of each community, i.e. whether it was situated in a major tourist area or was a big community or a community that was very close to urban centres etc.
In recent years, however, with the operation of landfills that have the ability to record on a daily basis the quantities and the origin of the waste they manage, the survey has been largely replaced with the use of administrative data, which was up to 2016 received from the Ministry of
Interior and ever since from the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment. Specifically, these data are available from 2006 for the landfill servicing the Pafos district and from mid-2010 for the landfill in Koshi servicing the provinces of Larnaka and Ammochostos (Famagusta). In 2017, the municipal waste treatment unit in Pentakomo started operating which services the Lemesos (Limassol) district. Moreover, from October 2018, the gradual transfer of municipal waste from
the district of Lefkosia (Nicosia) to the Koshi landfill site commenced. From 2019, following the closure of the landfill site at Kotsiatis, all municipal waste from the district of Lefkosia is managed at the Koshi landfill site.
Data for the earlier years were based on a study elaborated at the beginning of the 1990s by a team of consultants from abroad, on behalf of the Ministry of Interior, in its efforts to establish objectives and
future actions for the improvement of the management of municipal solid waste. The study, which focused on the evaluation of the content, amount and characteristics of solid waste, was completed in 1997-98 with the elaboration of a supplementary study. The results of these studies were supplemented with estimates, taking into account the resident population and the number of tourists visiting the country each year.
Data on recycling are derived from a study carried out on behalf of the
Recycling Association of Cyprus and estimates made by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment for the period 1996–2004. From 2005 onwards, the data come from declarations submitted by the recycling companies themselves, as well as data on the exports of waste materials compiled by the Statistical Service. Data from the various sources are cross checked for any inconsistencies.
Data for the separate collection of green waste that is used for
composting are coming both from the municipal authorities and the green waste treatment units.
Definitions used
produced for the market) for which the generator has no further use for own purpose of production, transformation or consumption and which he discards, or intends or is required to discard. Waste may be generated during the extraction of raw materials, during the processing of raw
materials to intermediate and final products, during the consumption of final products and during any other human activity. Excluded are residuals directly recycled or reused at the place of generation (i.e. establishment) and waste materials that are directly discharged into ambient water or air.
Municipal Waste: is waste collected by or on behalf of municipalities. It includes household waste and similar waste as well as waste originating
from commerce, trade, small businesses, office buildings and institutions (schools, hospitals, government buildings). It also includes: bulky waste and yard waste, leaves, grass clippings, street sweepings, the content of litter containers, and market cleansing waste, if managed as waste. Municipal waste is collected from door-to-door through traditional collection (mixed household waste) and fractions collected separately for recovery operations (mainly for recycling purposes, through door-to-door
collection and/or through voluntary deposits). It also includes waste similar in nature and composition which: 1) is collected directly by the private sector (business or private non-profit institutions), not on behalf of municipalities (mainly separate collection for recovery purposes), and 2) originates from rural areas not served by a regular waste service, even if they are disposed by the generator. It excludes waste from municipal sewage network and treatment and municipal
construction and demolition waste.
process that diverts it from the waste stream, except reuse as fuel. Both reprocessing as the same type of product and for different purposes is included. Direct recycling within industrial plants at the place of generation is excluded.
waste to anaerobic or aerobic decomposition and that results in a product used on land or for the production of growing media or substrates.

plant in order to reduce the volume and the hazardousness of the waste and to obtain a still product that can be disposed of.
Energy recovery: refers to the incineration and co-incineration of waste in power stations and industrial facilities such as cement kilns so that the resulting energy can be used to generate heat or electricity.
Landfill (disposal site): is defined as deposit of waste into or onto land, including specially engineered landfills, and temporary storage of
over one year on permanent sites. The definition covers both landfills in internal sites (i.e. where the generator of waste is carrying out its own waste disposal at the place of generation) and external sites.


Last updated: 26/01/2021