The initiative by First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides and Environment Commissioner Maria Panayiotou for turning the Presidential Place into a zero waste to landfill building, kickstarts a wider campaign, for zero waste to landfills, it was announced on Wednesday.

In the context of this joint effort by the First Lady and the Commissioner, presented on Monday, in addition to raising public awareness, the Presidential Palace is being transformed into “a positive example for the transition to the circular economy, within a framework that goes beyond environmental management.”

Turning the Presidential building into a Zero Waste to Landfill building, means that all waste streams such as pruning waste, construction waste, lamps, inks, wood, pipes, cables, electrical/electronic devices, etc, will be rationally managed with 100% verification that they will not end up in landfills, but reused or recycled in licensed facilities. To achieve Zero Waste to Landfill verification, it said, “more than 95% of our waste must be recycled or reused.” In addition to the building of the Presidential Palace, the Park of approximately 15 hectares that surrounds it is included in this initiative, while actions have already been taken to enhance the area's biodiversity.

Some of these actions are the renaming of the orchard to “Pollinator Garden” and its enrichment with plants that attract bees, to support both the bee population and other pollinator insects such as butterflies, beetles and others, but also actions to encourage the presence of birds and reptiles.

Other actions concern the use of compost bins at the Presidential Place and the abolition of the use of plastic bottles. The first results will be announced within 12 months, it is noted.

It also noted that, an Environmental Management System has been developed and implemented in the Presidential Palace since 2017, based on the guidelines of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), and inspected and certified annually by the Cyprus Certification Company.