“Green taxes” will save neither the environment nor society

 

12 February 2026, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Without planning or consultation, the government is imposing yet another tax on citizens. After energy and water, the “waste disposal tax” is being added to the government’s list of flagship reforms!

This tax will triple the cost of waste transport to OEDA (Integrated Waste Management Facilities) in the coming years. And we will all be called upon to pay this cost.

Without adequate infrastructures and without a serious and comprehensive waste management strategy, the landfill tax will have no benefit for the environment, but rather a negative impact. In fact, the government’s intention to impose it from January 1, 2026, while households are facing unprecedented inflation, is a social provocation. This is particularly true when one considers that this is not a European obligation but a commitment that the Anastasiades government made, hastily and without thorough consideration, to the EU’s Recovery Fund.

AKEL reiterates that policies are needed that help society and protect the environment. We once again call on the government to immediately suspend the imposition of the tax until the necessary infrastructures are fully and smoothly operational, to withdraw the ‘green’ taxes, and to renegotiate the terms of the Recovery Fund. Society cannot take any more. It is enough that we pay the most expensive electricity across the EU.

12.02.2026