Construction Waste in Cyprus: Three Years After the 2023 Regulatory Shift
Construction and demolition waste is a significant material stream in Cyprus. Concrete, bricks, soil, metals, wood, plastics, gypsum and other materials leave construction and demolition sites every day. Where these materials go, how they are separated, and whether they are recovered or reused matters for the construction sector, public authorities and communities across Cyprus.
In April 2023, Cyprus introduced a revised regulatory framework for construction and demolition waste through K.D.P. 112/2023. The Regulations aim to prevent waste, increase reuse, recycling and recovery, improve separation at source, strengthen responsibility across the construction process and support better recording of waste flows.
Three years later, the key question is no longer only what the Regulations require. The more important question is what has changed in practice. ISSEAD is therefore starting an open research project into the current state of construction and demolition waste management in Cyprus.
This is Version 0.1 of that work.
What changed in 2023?
K.D.P. 112/2023 introduced a framework that connects construction waste management more closely to the way projects themselves are planned and delivered. The Regulations assign responsibilities to several actors, including project owners, contractors, C&D waste producers, designers and supervising engineers. They require relevant projects to consider expected waste quantities and types during project preparation and to establish a C&D waste management plan before works begin. They also introduce requirements for recording waste quantities and demonstrating how different waste streams have been managed.
For larger projects, the framework goes further. Where more than 300 m³ of C&D waste is expected, separate collection is required for specified material streams including wood, mineral fractions, metals, glass, plastics and gypsum. Certain larger demolition projects are also expected to use selective demolition techniques that facilitate safe handling, reuse and higher-quality recycling.
Individual and collective C&D waste management systems must take measures to achieve recycling and/or recovery of at least 70% of generated C&D waste by weight. The Regulations also provide for electronic recording of waste quantities and reporting intended to support consistent statistics and monitoring.
The direction is therefore clear.
Construction waste should increasingly be planned for before it is created, separated in ways that support recovery, documented throughout its movement and transferred through authorised systems.
But regulation and implementation are two different questions.
What has happened since?
There is evidence that implementation activity followed the introduction of the Regulations.
In June 2023, the Department of Environment held information events covering all districts to explain the new framework to affected stakeholders.
In January 2024, after what the Department described as a period for information and adjustment, it announced nationwide inspections of construction sites. These inspections were intended to check matters including participation in recognised C&D waste management systems, delivery to licensed facilities and the preparation and availability of waste management plans. The Department also stated that non-compliance could result in administrative fines of up to €4,000 and/or criminal proceedings.
By December 2025, the Department reported systematic and intensive inspections covering construction sites, transfer and sorting locations, and final C&D waste treatment facilities across Cyprus. It also reported that guidance had been sent to contractors and that public-sector tender documentation was being adapted to incorporate C&D waste-management requirements.
The same announcement stated that software for tracking and monitoring waste flows, including C&D waste, was being planned for implementation.
These are signs of active implementation. They do not, however, tell us how consistently the framework is being applied across the construction sector.
There is also evidence of implementation problems
In December 2025, the Cyprus Audit Office published a special report concerning C&D waste generated during construction of the new Morphou Police Directorate building. The audit identified breaches of waste legislation and shortcomings by both the contractor and the contracting authority, particularly regarding implementation and supervision of the waste-management plan.
This case matters because it demonstrates that implementation failures can occur even where formal project structures and waste-management requirements exist.
But it is one project. It would be methodologically wrong to use a single case to describe the entire Cyprus construction sector. This is one of the reasons we need broader evidence.
The question we want to answer
Our central research question is:
To what extent has the 2023 regulatory change translated into measurable changes in how construction and demolition waste is understood, planned, separated, traced, treated and recovered in Cyprus?
We will examine this across six areas:
Planning. Is C&D waste management considered before works begin?
Responsibility. Do the relevant actors understand and apply their responsibilities?
Separation. Are waste streams sufficiently separated to support appropriate treatment and improved material recovery?
Traceability. Can the movement and final destination of construction waste be demonstrated?
Authorised treatment. Is waste consistently transferred through authorised systems and facilities?
Enforcement. How visible and effective is regulatory monitoring in practice?
Official data can only answer part of the question
One part of this research will examine official statistics, treatment infrastructure, inspections, enforcement and waste-management systems. We are particularly interested in whether recent and sufficiently detailed national data are publicly available for C&D waste generation, recycling, reuse, recovery, backfilling and final disposal.
This is relevant because K.D.P. 112/2023 itself establishes electronic recording and annual reporting mechanisms intended to support data collection and statistics. If detailed information exists, we want to find and analyse it. If it does not exist publicly, or if significant gaps remain, we will identify that transparently as part of the research.
We will not substitute municipal waste statistics for construction and demolition waste data. Because municipal waste and construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) are different waste streams. Combining them would weaken the paper methodologically.
We also want to hear from the people doing the work
Official reporting tells us what is recorded. Legislation tells us what should happen. Neither fully tells us what construction professionals know or experience on projects. The next stage of the research will therefore include an anonymous field survey of relevant professionals working with construction and demolition activities in Cyprus.
The survey will examine four areas:
Knowledge, including understanding of current C&D waste-management requirements.
Capability, including whether professionals know how to apply appropriate processes in practice.
Practices, including what actually happens during construction and demolition projects.
Attitudes, including perceptions of responsibility, feasibility, costs, enforcement, recovery and circular construction.
Participation will be limited to people with relevant professional involvement in construction or demolition projects in Cyprus. The survey will not collect names, company names, email addresses or other information intended to identify individual respondents. The questionnaire and methodology will be published before the results are analysed.
Compliance and circular construction are not the same
A second question runs through this research. Even if waste is managed legally, does that mean construction is becoming more circular?
Not necessarily.
Waste may be collected and recovered while valuable materials are still lost from productive use. Recycling rates alone also tell us little about recycling quality, reuse, secondary material markets or whether waste generation was prevented in the first place.
We will therefore distinguish between:
legal compliance,
material recovery,
recycling,
reuse,
and circular use of construction materials.
The longer-term question is whether Cyprus can move from managing construction waste more effectively towards retaining more of the value of construction materials within the economy.
An open research process
We are publishing this work while the research develops. This first article establishes the question and the evidence framework. Further versions will add new evidence rather than quietly replacing earlier conclusions.
The next stages will examine:
current C&D waste statistics and data availability,
treatment and recovery infrastructure,
implementation and enforcement evidence,
the anonymous industry survey,
and the relationship between regulatory requirements and actual construction-sector practice.
The objective is to build a clearer and more useful picture of construction and demolition waste management in Cyprus, based on evidence from regulation, public institutions and the people working in the sector.
Research status
Version 0.1, August 2026
Research framework and initial implementation evidence.
Next iteration: Cyprus C&D waste evidence baseline and field survey design.
From Research to Practice: Construction Waste Compliance Check
Understanding the regulations is one thing. Applying them consistently on a construction project is another.
ISSEAD's Construction Waste Compliance Check (CWCC) provides an independent assessment of how construction and demolition waste is managed on a specific project in Cyprus. It reviews current practices, identifies potential compliance gaps and provides clear, practical recommendations for improvement.
The CWCC is available for project owners, contractors and construction professionals who want greater clarity on their current approach to C&D waste management and the requirements applying to their project.
Interested in a Construction Waste Compliance Check for your project?
Contact ISSEAD to discuss your requirements. Call 97857780