Republic of Cyprus Second Voluntary National Report - Sustainable development goals

90 NARRATIVE Cyprus is promoting a new growth model aiming at the diversification of additional sectors, including a competitive agricultural sector, a competitive light manufacturing sector that includes production in areas of green-tech, agri-tech, and a sustainable tourism sector. It also aims at promoting a circular economy in an effort to cope with the significant challenges pertaining to effective waste management. Significant investments are foreseen in the new investment plan that will be greatly financed by the Resilience and Reform Fund, that aim to help reach the goals set in the latest EU Directives on Waste Management, particularly, as it pertains to the reuse and recycling of municipal waste (60% by 2030), the recycling of packaging waste (70% by 2030), the ban of landfilling of recyclable waste from 2030, and the enforcement of the separate collection of biowaste, textiles and household hazardous waste as mandatory. Targeted Government initiatives, among others, aim to enhance the coordination between different administrative levels and the eminent reform of the local authorities will empower their imperative shift towards higher levels in the waste management pyramid towards a more sustainable model of consumption. ANALYSIS Cyprus seems to fall behind in terms of the environmental impact generated from economic growth. In particular, Cyprus holds the 19th place in the resource productivity index, measured as the gross domestic product divided by domestic material consumption (the total amount of materials directly used by an economy). The value of the index in Cyprus in 2019 was 154.3, compared to the EU average, which was 136.5. Additionally, Cyprus ranks 17 th in the average CO 2 emissions from new passenger cars with, 123.3g CO 2 per km relative to 119.6g CO2 per km in the EU (see Figure 31), and 12th in energy productivity (€7.4 per kg of oil equivalent relative to €8.4 per kg of oil equivalent in the EU). Finally, the volume of freight transport in Cyprus, relative to its GDP places the country in one of the last places among EU countries. Specifically, the value of the index in Cyprus in 2018 was 76.2, compared to the EU average, which was 96.6. In terms of waste generation management, the performance of Cyprus varies. On the one hand, Cyprus holds the 21 st place in the recycling rate of waste and the 23 rd place in the circular material use rate (see Figure 32). Cyprus’ own waste, which is recycled is 31% of total waste (the EU average is 56%), while the share of material recovered and fed back into the economy is 2.9% (the EU average is 11.9%). On the other hand, Cyprus is among the top 3 EU countries with the lowest generation of waste (excluding mineral waste). In particular, the generated waste in Cyprus amounts to 930kg per capita, whereas the EU average is almost double amounting to 1,818kg per capita. 155.8 149.9 144.3 139.2 129.8 125.7 123.5 122.2 123.3 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 155 160 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 g CO 2 per km Figure 31.: Average CO 2 Emissions per Km from New Passenger Cars 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.4 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.9 0 1 2 3 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 % of total material use Figure 32.: Circular Material Use Rate