Recycling in Cyprus

It's just over ten years since the 'Green Dot' company introduced recycling in Larnaka (and elsewhere in Cyprus). We were a little dubious at first, but it's been extremely efficient. Every Monday evening, two large and noisy trucks drive around our neighbourhood, collecting the two different kinds of roadside recycling: the paper and card (in a brown bag) and the PMD (plastic-metal-drinks) recycling, in an almost clear bag.  Sometimes they come as early as about four o'clock, sometimes as late as eleven o'clock, but they come by every week. Even on public holidays. 

It took us a few years to work out an efficient method of storing the things we planned to recycle, as we don't generate nearly enough to put out a bag every week. But in the autumn of 2014 we started using a chest of drawers in the kitchen rather than simply piling things in an overflowing trolley behind the freezer: 

It's been moved since then, but the principle of putting the PMD and paper recycling in two separate drawers has worked so well that we still do that over six years later. 

A few years ago we also placed two different coloured dustbins outside, one for PMD and one for paper. This enables any guests to put out recycling easily, and means that if our PMD drawer starts to overflow before there's enough to fill one of the sacks, I can put some of it in the blue bin. It also means that some of the advertising junk mail can go straight into the brown bin without ever entering the house.

Then a year or so ago we bought a crate to take the glass recycling. That isn't collected from the roadside; we have to take it to one of the green containers that can be found in various places. We usually remember to take it when we go to Metro, but not always. It generally takes a couple of months to be anywhere near full. 

I now put out recycling for collection on the last Monday of each month. So this morning, in between rain showers, I filled the two bags from the kitchen drawers and the outside bins:

The PMD sack contains tetrapaks (squashed to almost flat), cans, a few plastic containers and some metal trays or lids.  Putting it out once a month means the bag is fairly full, but not overflowing.  The paper one is fuller than usual, but I don't think I put any out at all in October, so that's probably two months' worth. 

A few glass items had found their way into the PMD drawer, so I moved those down to the outside crate.  This is what we've used in November: 

It looks as if there's plenty of room for December's bottles and jars, which is just as well as we forgot to take the crate when we went to Metro last week. 

And if anyone is wondering whether our roof repairs held in this morning's rain - the answer is a resounding 'yes'!  Most of the rain was quite light, but there was a heavy downpour for about five minutes, and although I watched carefully, not a single drop appeared on our stairs.  It remains to be seen whether that will stay true in high winds, or in rain that lasts longer than five minutes. But it's a great improvement and we are extremely relieved. 

Overuse of plastic in Cyprus

At the end of the catch-up post I wrote last week, I mentioned that Cyprus was supposed to be reducing the amount of plastic used. It's such a problem here that I think this topic is worthy of a post in its own right.  Plastic bottles and some cartons are recycled here; I just put out our last month's worth of paper and 'PMD' (plastic, metals, drinks) recycling, before starting this post, and was struck by the irony that we have to place our items in designated non-recyclable plastic bags....

Whatever people think of the problems of global warming and wherever they stand politically, I don't think there's any doubt that we humans use far too much unnecessary plastic. A lot of it ends up in the sea, and causes serious damage to marine life. If you haven't seen the stories (and some horrific images) then a quick online search for 'marine life plastic' (or similar) should set the scene.

One issue which recently hit the news is the over-use of plastic straws. When we were in the UK recently I looked for paper straws, which I remember from my childhood, but could not find them. There are some available at vast price online, but mostly intended for parties, with bright patterns and colours.  They did not appeal. I've seen re-usable straws made of metal or silicon, but am a tad dubious about the difficulties of washing them sufficiently between uses.

We don't use straws in the winter, but in the summer I make frappés rather than hot coffees after lunch, and we like to drink them through straws.  I was wondering if we could learn to drink them without straws at all, when I came across an article online about a restaurant which had started using straws made of pasta.  When we were in Metro I checked what was available - we don't cook pasta, other than wholegrain spaghetti and the occasional lasagne, so I had not previously looked - and found that long macaroni was available. It was even on special offer.  Sealed in plastic, of course... but still, we thought it worth trying.

The weather has been hot, so we've been drinking frappés for the past couple of weeks now, and have become quite accustomed to these longer-than-usual but very effective straws:

We can't decide if there's a slight taste to them or not. It's not a problem, anyway, and even though we have to throw them away after each use (we tried rinsing them out but they cracked and couldn't be used again) they are biodegradable.  If a family who eats this kind of pasta used them, they could probably rinse them out and store them in the freezer until there were sufficient to cook for a meal, and that would be even more efficient.

One of the biggest uses of plastic used to be the flimsy carrier bags given away by supermarkets. I say 'used to be...' because in most of Europe there are now charges for carrier bags; customers are encouraged to bring their own, either stronger re-usable plastic ones, or those made of cloth.  I recall a bit of negative muttering about it when this was first introduced in the UK, but most people are reasonable, and if nothing else could see that it costs something to produce each plastic bag.

In Cyprus, however, we tend to lag behind most of mainland Europe.  At the end of 2010 when Lidl supermarkets first came to the island, they were unusual in not giving away free carrier bags. We were not in the habit of taking our own at the time, and found this a bit irritating, but realised it was reasonable. We bought some of their heavy-duty carriers, and once or twice bought the inexpensive ones. We only went there rarely, at first, anyway.

Almost a year ago, Cyprus was warned that it should do something about the immense amount of plastic wastage. We read that a 5 cent charge on carriers would be imposed from 1st July 2018, and that in January supermarkets could introduce a 2 cent charge, to help customers become used to the idea. We decided to make more of an effort, so it's now become a habit to take cloth bags with us either to supermarkets or the local fruit shop.

I don't know what can be done about the small produce bags which are used in the fruitarias.  Here's a typical few euros' worth of fruit and veg:

I don't put everything in produce bags, but when buying - for instance - apples or oranges, it's important to use either the pink, green or blue bags because they're a code for the cashiers, to establish which aisle they're from. I use a lot of 'pink bag' produce, in the reduced section of the shop.  Even if that were not a problem, it would be impossible for them to weigh everything separately if I simply piled my selection into a trolley without bagging items separately.

However, even reducing the main carrier bags should make a difference.  We assumed that when the shops opened after the New Year break, they would have a two cent charge for carriers. But January came and went, and carrier bags were given away just as they had been before. Cashiers no longer started putting things in carriers automatically, or not so readily - but perhaps that's because they got used to us, and some of our friends, taking our own bags.

In the UK, prior to the introduction of the charge for plastic bags, a lot of the supermarkets ran promotions on 'bags for life', and cloth bags with logos. We haven't seen any of those here, until - as mentioned in the previous post - we saw an advert in Metro for trolley bags.  They seem to fit any large trolley and we think they're a great idea. So here's another photo of them in use:

Cutting down on plastic is a slow process. Each family who adopts a cloth bag or non-plastic straw may feel as if it makes no difference; but, as is oft-repeated, the ocean is made up of tiny drops of water.

If anyone has other recommendations for cutting down on unnecessary plastic, feel free to leave a comment.  

Finding a use (or two) for a cardboard box...

We were very pleased when recycling was, at last, introduced to Cyprus a couple of years ago. The trucks come round every Monday night, and I put out a bag of mixed plastics/metal/drink containers about once a month when we've collected sufficient to fill it at least half-way. 

I also put out paper once or twice per month, depending primarily on how much junk mail has arrived.  However, I have not yet had to buy any bags for paper recycling; we were told that we could use cardboard boxes if we preferred, and so far I seem to have a plentiful supply of suitable sized boxes. The motto of recycling is of course, 'reduce, reuse, recycle' (at least in the UK), so in using boxes for holding my recycling, I am at least re-using them. Reducing is tricky; I do try to reduce the plastic bags I collect, but workers in shops are very keen to give them out, and I do re-use them all for collecting dirty cat litter, or for lining bins. 

It's also difficult to reduce the number of cardboard boxes that enter our home. Any time we order anything from the UK, it's likely to arrive in one or more boxes, well-packed and clearly labelled. I'm always pleased when items are packed inside with polystyrene beads of some kind, as I re-use those to pour into the beanbag where I sit and read. They gradually seem to get squashed, so a steady supply of top-up beads, as provided free by various mail-order companies, is very welcome. 

However, the cardboard boxes were getting a little out of hand recently, so I decided to re-use one of them as a simple container to take my walking shoes when I come in. We have a two-tier table by the front door, but I didn't want to put muddy shoes directly on the lower surface (and they have been really quite muddy after some of my recent early morning walks) - yet I did need a place to put them, to remind me to take them off as soon as I arrive home!

Creating such a container was the work of a moment once I had the idea. Creative crafts are not my thing, but a bit of parcel tape around the edge held the flaps in place, and my new outdoor shoe container was ready: 

It is not a thing of beauty [that was an example of the Great British Understatement] but it's out of the way, and convenient. 

However, Tessie assumed I had created a new bed for her; she's not quite such a box-dweller as our other cats, preferring large spaces to tight fits.  But she did like the fact that I provided a nice hard surface (in the form of shoes) to rub her face against if she has an itch, and even some cat toys (in the form of laces) for times when she gets bored. 

Here she is having a wash.. 

Who would have guessed that a random box could be a wardrobe, a bed, a playroom and even a bath....? 

Recycling plastic, metal and drink containers in Cyprus

I was very excited when we received our recycling pack a couple of months ago. I started collecting everything that could be recycled, according to the brochure. On Mondays, when I walk to the Post Office, I take any glass recycling with me, to drop into the green glass recycling domes that have sprung up all around Larnaka.

And yet - to my surprise, there isn't actually much to recycle. Last week, I forgot to take any glass with me. Yesterday, my two weeks' worth of glass consisted of:

Two empty spice jars
Two empty jam jars
One empty wine bottle

The wine bottle had been sitting in our fridge for about a few months. Perhaps since we had friends over for our anniversary. There was maybe a quarter of a bottle left, and I've gradually been using it in cooking. Finally I finished it about ten days ago. The jam jars had been given to us by other people; I never buy jam, but make my own and re-use the same jars.

I did have about half a box of paper to put out last night. Most if it was junk mail that had arrived in our letter-box, but there were a few papers from our printer that couldn't be used any more.

As for the 'PMD' category - plastic, metal and drink containers - I'd collected a month's worth of those. We have to put them in bags, which can be bought from the supermarket; I don't mind buying them (they don't cost any more than regular black sacks) but feel reluctant to put one out when there are only a couple of items in it. So I kept on collecting containers until it was about a third full:


I'm quite pleased to discover that we really don't use many containers that can be recycled; it means we probably weren't wasting as much as I thought we were. Cooking just everything from scratch, and relying on plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables does help - although I rather wish we had some way of making compost, since my black sacks are, basically, full of fruit and vegetable waste now. Plus a bit of plastic that can't be recycled.

Here, for anyone curious to know what was in my PMD bag, is an exclusive photo of the contents:


I even, sad person that I am, made a list:

Three milk containers (two plastic, one tetrapack - I buy whatever's best value)
Two juice tetrapack containers (I don't drink it much, but Richard does sometimes)
One empty olive oil bottle (it's the only oil I use; one litre typically lasts us a couple of months)
One empty shampoo bottle
One empty baked beans tin (yes, we do sometimes eat ready-canned baked beans)
One empty mackerel can (an occasional lunch-time treat)
Two empty tuna cans (we have tuna mayonnaise for lunch sometimes)
One empty passata container (bought before I started making my own)
Two jar lids (from the jam jars that went into the glass recycling)
One bubble mixture bottle (the first one finished from my birthday present)
One washing-up liquid bottle (they usually last us about three or four months)
Three empty ketchup bottles. Yes, three. I do use them in cooking as well as sometimes on meals.

- and that's all. Which I don't think is too bad, really. Well, other than the ketchup which I suppose I could make myself too. I no longer buy canned tomatoes and although I do buy canned sweetcorn, we evidently haven't eaten any in the past month. I was surprised that there were only two tuna cans - I had expected more. Perhaps someone threw them away without thinking.

I also added in an empty large fabric conditioner bottle which someone else, for some reason, had left in our dustbin a few days ago. The regular dustmen won't now take anything that's clearly recyclable.

The recycling truck comes around our neighbourhood around 9.00pm Monday nights. It takes PMD and paper every week, which seems pretty efficient. They don't yet seem to have reached all the streets in Larnaka, and I don't know how much is being collected; we don't see very many bags or boxes put out, but at least it's a start.

Junk mail in Cyprus

I've mentioned, fairly regularly, how we seem to get a vast amount of junk mail here in Cyprus. We see people going around, often on motor-bikes, stuffing brochures and leaflets into mail boxes. Nearly every day there's something. I do usually give it a quick glance before throwing it out. Occasionally we've spotted something we wanted, on special offer. Or a new shop that might be worth a visit.

Just occasionally, as happened in September, there's something useful such as our recycling pack, which was mixed up in junk mail. From that date, other advertising bumph has gone to paper recycling rather than the bin.

A couple of days ago, Richard came in carrying this:


Inside was this:


which we assume is a new kind of fluid for the washing machine. The pictures do indicate that it's for clothes rather than dishes, although the leaflet is entirely in Greek.

I haven't used it yet, but since we were given this free gift from Dixan, I thought I would at least mention it here. I normally use large boxes of Ariel washing powder (at about half the strength recommended) but am always happy to try out something new. Particularly if it's given to us.

Glass recycling domes in Larnaka

When we received our information pack about recycling in Larnaka, the booklet told us that there would be green 'bell-shaped bins' appearing in certain spots for glass recycling. The picture didn't look exactly bell-shaped, but fairly distinctive. I've been looking out for them in the past week or so, but had not spotted any.

Recycling in Larnaka is supposed to begin in October, with the first kerbside collection of PND (plastic, metal and drink cartons) and paper in our area this evening. So I wondered if the glass recycling bins might have appeared. According to the booklet, there should have been one outside the primary school on Fanoroumeni Avenue, and one by the St Lazarus kiosk. Since I usually walk down Fanoroumeni Avenue to check our PO Box for mail early on Monday mornings, I decided to take a couple of glass jars with me today, just in case....

Sure enough, right in front of the school as I walked down (on the shady side of the street) I saw this:


I kept walking, collected our mail, and then walked right around St Lazarus Church. I have no idea where the 'kiosk' is - and I did not see any signs of another green recycling bin. So I walked back on the sunnier side of the road - at 7.45am it wasn't yet too hot - and soon came to the school:


I did wonder if the bin would be rather full, but when I gingerrly posted my empty mayonnaise jar through the hole at the front, I heard a plop as it fell to the ground. Either it had recently been emptied, or nobody else has used it.

I then posted my empty pickle jar in, only to hear it break as it landed. Oops. We're not supposed to bring broken glass to recycle... but I suppose it's inevitable that some items will break as they're put inside.

I'm quite pleased that these are the only two glass items we've collected in the past fortnight since we first learned about the new recycling scheme for Larnaka and district. Evidently we haven't been wasting as much as I had feared.

Recycling in Larnaka - at last!

In the UK, recycling is a way of life now. Everyone we know sorts out cardboard, glass, plastic and so on, separate from other general rubbish. Some have to sort them into separate boxes, some use wheely bins, some large sacks... each district has its own methods. But the whole country now recycles large quantities of household rubbish.

One of the things I found difficult about living in Cyprus was the total lack of recycling facilities. At first we kept jars and bottles and paper, in the hope of finding somewhere. A few times, friends were going to Dhekelia, where there are some recycling facilities on the British army base, and took some boxes of old papers for us. But it's not worth driving that far - thirty or so kilometres - just to recycle. More would be wasted on petrol than would be conserved.

So I have re-used jars for jam and chutney, kept margarine and ice cream tubs for freezing food portions and home-made ice cream, and plastic bags for bin-liners and disposing of cat litter. We have re-used water bottles, and tried - where we could - to minimise waste. Eventually, a couple of years ago, I realised that there was no point keeping stacks of paper that would blow away or get rained upon, and empty bottles to get full of dust. So I gritted my teeth and started throwing them out with the rubbish. The dustmen come three times each week, and we only really half-fill a black sack each time, when there's just the two of us. Since we no longer have a compost heap, I don't think that's TOO bad... certainly not compared to our neighbours.

So.

Imagine my surprise when, last night, I picked up the junk mail (or so I thought...) from our outside mailbox. One item was in a plastic bag, and I almost threw it straight in the dustbin... but, thankfully, brought it upstairs.

Inside were two large folded plastic bags. And a booklet, half in Greek and half in English, telling us that recycling has come, at last, to Larnaka and the nearby districts:


I was delighted! I had almost given up hope of it ever happening - and assumed that, if it did, it would be fairly chaotic. Perhaps it will, but the plan, at least, seems very well thought-out. Glass, it seems, will have several collection points. As they point out in the booklet, broken glass could be a problem if it was collected along with other recycling. I didn't recognise most of the collection points, but there's one at Metro supermarket. It's not as if we get through that much glass: a jar of mayonnaise perhaps every couple of months. A little Marmite, now and again, although I don't eat it any more and Richard doesn't have much. The occasional wine bottle, if friends who like wine come to dinner. I'm sure I can keep glass jars and bottles for a few weeks in between our monthly visits to Metro.

However, from October 1st there are apparently going to be weekly collections from the street of other kinds of recycling. Our area will be Monday nights. These bags will be widely available. I don't know if they'll all be free, but this one was:


In that bag, labelled PMD, we can place plastic bottles of any kind, metal containers, and drink cartons. So, empty shampoo or dishwasher powder, empty cans of any kind, tetrapack juice cartons, milk containers of any kind. No margarine tubs, but those are the ones I use for freezing leftover meal portions anyway.

The other sack is for paper recycling:

In that can go magazines, advertising leaflets, office paper, cardboard boxes... not toilet rolls or tissue paper, but just about anything else.

The booklet was full of exhortation to recycle, pointing out that it was of benefit to the consumer, and saying that there would be incentives to recycle in the future. I don't need any incentives. I've already started collecting things that can go in these sacks when the first collection takes place. I can't believe how happy it makes me that this is starting. I just hope it actually works as it's supposed to, and that people in Cyprus take it up as thoroughly as they do in the UK.

The only slight irony is the bag that the leaflet and larger bags were in, since it can't actually be recycled...


I suppose I can use it for cat-litter.

(General information about recycling in Cyprus can be found at the Green Dot Cyprus website)