Brussels – EC sues Greece and Cyprus over poor waste management

Brussels, 1 October /ATSH-DPA/ – The European Commission has sued Greece and Cyprus for failing to comply with European Union standards on waste treatment.

The two countries have not implemented the EU regulation, which “sets standards for landfills to prevent adverse effects on human health, water, soil and air”, a press release issued today said.

Greece and Cyprus also fail to respect an EU law obliging member states to treat waste before it is deposited in landfills, so that this “does not endanger human health and the environment, prohibiting the abandonment, dumping or uncontrolled disposal of waste”.

The Commission has been in contact with Athens since 2021 regarding the country’s landfills.

Currently, 66 of 81 landfills are not in compliance with EU legislation, the release said, prompting the Commission to decide to take Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Around a fifth of the waste produced in Cyprus is still deposited in landfills without adequate treatment, the Commission said.

“The Commission has also concluded that, in both countries, the capacity of plants for treating waste before landfilling is insufficient for treating mixed municipal waste”, the statement said.