According to the National Guidance for Plastic Pollution Hotspotting and Shaping Action Report for the Republic of Cyprus, the plastic waste generation per capita is very high, and amounts to 94 kg/cap/year (> 53 kg/, cap/year, world average from Jambeck et al. 2015), of which up to 11 kg/cap/year are attributed to tourism. Around 8-10% of this plastic is either mismanaged or leaks into the environment. This is due to the fact that the island state in the Mediterranean Sea has a large tourism sector, with up to 4 million tourists on an annual basis, a fisheries sector with a high percentage of leakage of fishing gear into the sea, and a waste management sector which has just recently evolved into a more organized network of collection, sorting and processing.

In order to tackle existing and future challenges of plastic waste generation and leakage into the environment, the three sectors need to tackle existing issues through the introduction of more circular strategies for plastic materials. This report outlines an Action Plan for the tourism, fisheries and waste management sectors, which can serve as a clear way forward for the Republic of Cyprus to avoid and reduce plastic waste generation and leakage into the environment.

The full plan can be read here:

Action Plan to Prevent Plastic Waste in Republic Cyprus by 2030.pdf