The landfill tax will be reduced from €35 to €10 per tonne and is set to increase by €5 annually starting in 2028, Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said on Wednesday.

“The €5 increase will be until 2039 but the increase will depend on the implementation of the Pay as You Throw scheme. The increase of €5 does not mean an increase in the burden because the tonnes of waste will be reduced and separate collection will be applied,” Panayiotou said.

The decision follows consultations with the European Commission and aims to provide more time for the government and local authorities to expand waste management measures and facilities as per the municipal waste management plan 2022 to 2028.

Such measures include the implementation of further Pay as You Throw schemes, as are already in place in some parts of the island.

The estimated burden on the annual garbage fee per household without the scheme will reach €10.60 by 2027, while with the implementation of the scheme, the burden could be reduced by up to as much as €6.76.

Panayiotou made it clear that the government did not want to pass on the fees to residents, announcing that local authorities would receive a total of €48 million to implement the schemes.

She went on to say that financial resources will be distributed in stages starting this year and will be tied to the progress of the implementation of measures by local authorities.

The implementation of the schemes, Panayiotou said, will be based on the decisions of the municipalities.

“Of course, unfinished business remains, such as the submission of the action plans and the completion of the upgrading of the infrastructure of the Oeda [green points],” she added.

Panayiotou said that a study would be conducted to ensure the upgrade was carried out correctly and to avoid past mistakes, such as those seen in the waste management plant in Pentakomo.

The plant, which was built to process municipal waste from the Limassol district, had been dumped with tonnes of rubbish that it did not have the capacity to process.

The minister described Wednesday’s decision as a “decisive step towards a new era in waste management”.

She said that now that the legislation is in place, it needed to be implemented correctly and in a way that it benefited residents.

The measures, she said, were designed to reduce waste, boost recycling and protect the environment fairly without placing too much of a strain on residents.