From announcements and timetables to Cyprus’s referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union over waste

Statement by Christina Nikolaou, Head of the AKEL Sustainable Development and Sustainability Policy Sector

2 October 2026, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Cyprus’s referral to the EU Court of Justice over waste management is a serious development and highlights, in the most official manner, the shortcomings and delays in the country’s planning and infrastructures.

The European Commission is clear: 21 per cent of the waste produced in Cyprus ends up in landfill without prior treatment, whilst the available capacity of the facilities is insufficient to treat mixed municipal waste.

This is not a problem that has arisen only today. The infringement proceedings began in 2021. Despite the warnings, announcements and timetables, Cyprus now finds itself before the European Court of Justice.

AKEL had long ago warned of this development. We had repeatedly raised the issues concerning the Kosia and Pentakomo Waste Management Organisations and had pointed out that citizens cannot be asked to pay for waste management without the necessary infrastructures being in place first. The Pentakomo case, meanwhile, is under criminal investigation, adding to the list of scandals.

Cyprus’s referral to the European Court of Justice is not some isolated blunder. It is yet another piece of a broader picture: projects that are announced, millions spent, timetables set and, in the end, citizens being left to deal with the consequences of mismanagement.

If this is not a failure in the planning, supervision and implementation of public infrastructures, then what is it?

Today, the questions are specific and cannot be answered by issuing further announcements:

Which projects have been completed?

Which timetables have been met?

When will there be sufficient treatment capacity?

And when will the landfilling of untreated waste cease?

The government must now move beyond issuing mere announcements and present measurable results, and realise that it is not the number of times a project has been announced that counts. What counts is whether the project in question has been completed, whether it is operational, and whether it ultimately serves the public.

And when, after so many announcements, Cyprus finds itself before the European Court of Justice, whilst a project worth millions is under criminal investigation, the question is no longer whether there is a problem.

The question is: how many more failures are needed before the government takes on political responsibility?