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Action Plan to prevent plastic waste in the Republic of Cyprus 2030

The Republic of Cyprus has the highest per-capita plastic waste generation in Europe. 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 big 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 Cyprus to avoid and reduce plastic waste generation and leakage into the environment.