Limassol promotes composting

The 3^rd ACUA (autonomous composting units for urban areas) meeting was successfully held on 5 December at the Limassol Town Hall in the framework of the Interreg VA Partnership Program “Greece – Cyprus 2014-2020” which is co-funded by the ERDF and national resources of Greece and Cyprus. In addition to the Municipality of Limassol, representatives of the Municipalities of Heraklion and Rhodes and of two educational institutions - the Hellenic Mediterranean University and the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) - also attended the meeting.

On behalf of the Limassol Municipality, the Mayor of Limassol, Mr Nicos Nicolaides, welcomed the attendees, noting that the Municipality attaches great importance to the program and that reducing waste is a one-way street for municipalities. Composting is a modern and effective waste reduction practice and a good sorting at the source solution.

The aim of the ACUA (autonomous composting units for urban areas) program is the development within the urban network of a system for the collection of produced organic waste and their processing at the same place without causing any disturbance. It constitutes an easy way to convert organic food and plant waste into fertiliser that can be used in the garden. On the basis of spatial criteria and following a call for expressions of interest, 3 sites were selected for the installation of the 3 autonomous mechanical composters. The points are located in or near the Seaside Multifunctional Park where the produced compost can be made available. Additionally, a multitude of people passes by the Park on a daily basis, where they are informed about the composting process. The points are also located within walking distance of the Municipal Garden where the fertiliser produced can also be made available.

The 3^rd meeting of the ACUA program coincided with the delivery of the autonomous mechanical composters and the participants had the opportunity to visit the premises, follow the progress of the program in Limassol and exchange views. The units will be placed on concrete and will be fenced. A special access system will be in placed allowing access only to their owners.

Within the framework of the program, the CUT will monitor the operation of the Sorting at the Source and the Autonomous Mechanical Composting systems and record all the elements required for the implementation of the technical-economic and environmental evaluation of the systems. The Limassol Municipality is also organising educational seminars on the “Implementation of integrated sorting at the source systems and autonomous household composting units for urban areas”.