Since 2016, Cyta is the first and only verified ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ organisation in Cyprus. The commitment to the long-term pledge on environmental issues has been proved for another year by Cyta, as an organisation that sends zero waste to landfills. This certification is issued when an organisation recycles more than 95% of its waste. In 2020, Cyta produced 1 225.79 tons of waste and managed to reuse or recycle 1 195.79 tons, which translates to 97.55%. Cyta originally secured the certificate ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ from the company TUV Cyprus Ltd. for the years 2016–2019 and from TUV Austria Hellas for 2020. For five consecutive years Cyta, through its unwavering environmentally friendly policy, managed to keep reusing or recycling up to 97.55% of its waste.
Cyta’s waste that is reused or recycled includes – among other things – paper, plastic, cables, aluminium, batteries, printers, vehicles, organic waste, wooden poles, ink cartridges, tyres and wood. Consistently and responsibly, Cyta wants to further reduce the proportion of waste that cannot be reused or recycled. Cyta aims at 0% waste to landfills in the foreseeable future.
Waste is one of the greatest problems that Cyprus has to deal with because landfill sites have been saturated, while strict rules from the EU on waste reduction forces the country to take immediate action.
Cyta was established as a semi-governmental organisation with the aim of providing, maintaining and developing a complete telecommunication service both internally and internationally. It is the leading provider of integrated electronic communications in Cyprus. For Cyta, environmental policy is part of its broader corporate social responsibility (CSR), which embraces all sectors of society in its responsibility towards its customers, staff, partners and suppliers, the wider society and the state. For Cyta, CSR is mainly about how responsibly it acts as an organisation in every business activity and in its relationships with all those affected. Cyta understands that it belongs to an integral part of the society in which it operates and that through its business activities it can have a positive contribution, but also a negative impact on it.
Within this framework, in 1999 Cyta signed the Environmental Charter of European Telecom Operators (EΤΝΟ). In 2001, Cyta implemented its environmental policy. Cyta’s environmental policy is expressed and implemented consistently on the basis of the principles of the Environmental Protection Agency, through a specific framework of actions. Based on these principles, Cyta aims to avoid negative environmental impacts by offering services that contribute to sustainable development and are environmentally friendly, and by minimising the negative impact of its operations on the environment.
The Cyta framework includes:
- compliance with all applicable laws and regulations;
- reduction of resource consumption;
- reuse, wherever possible, products and equipment and eliminating reckless disposal of them;
- promoting the recycling of its waste, further reduction in consumption of resources and their rational re-usage;
- promoting recyclable and environmentally friendly products;
- the addition of environmental issues in the staff training programmes in an effort to increase their environmental awareness;
- reduction of the visual intervention of its installations in the environment;
- continuous monitoring of its actions to protect the environment by using measurable indicators and information on measurement results;
- promoting, within the scope of its capabilities, the development of environmental consciousness in society in general.