The award of the tender for the execution of construction works aimed at the restoration and subsequent aftercare of the uncontrolled waste disposal site (landfill – ΧΑΔΑ) in Vati, as well as eight additional landfills in the Limassol district, is imminent. It is estimated that, provided no appeal is submitted to the Tenders Review Authority, works will commence in April.
The Head of the Solid Waste Management Service of the Water Development Department, Kyriakos Kapris, responding to a relevant question from “Entrepreneurial Limassol”, stated that the tender award process has not yet been completed and, therefore, the interested Economic Operators have not been officially informed. He also noted that the award will determine both the signing of the contract and the commencement of the project.
Mr Kapris further stated that the total duration of the construction works will amount to 40 months. “The completion of the works related to the restoration of the landfill has been set at 22 months, while the remaining works, such as the construction of a new reservoir and pumping station, will be completed within 40 months,” he added.
It should be noted that, within the framework of the tender for the execution of construction works, two bids were submitted to the Water Development Department. Specifically, a bid of €26,900,000 was submitted by Cyfield Engineering and Contracting Public Limited, while MEDCON Construction Ltd submitted a bid of €29,563,887. The estimated value of the project amounts to €27,150,000.
The tender was published on 30 September 2025.
The contract covers, among other things, excavation and transport of waste and contaminated soil, restoration of eight existing waste disposal sites in the Limassol District, construction of sealing systems, leachate collection and stormwater drainage systems, a gas flare, infrastructure for the energy exploitation of biogas, construction of a new disposal cell for sewage sludge and contaminated soil, construction of an earthen reservoir for the storage of reclaimed water, construction of an irrigation pumping station, as well as other supporting infrastructure works.
The project will be financed by the European Union through the Cohesion Policy Programme “THALIA 2021–2027”.
All necessary studies and plans for the restoration of the former landfill have been prepared by specialized consultants, who had also undertaken the corresponding studies and plans for the restoration project of the Kotsiatis landfill. Environmental Opinions for the project were issued in January 2020 and September 2022.
The objective of the project is the restoration and protection of the natural environment, the protection of groundwater aquifers, the reuse of the site, as well as the production of electrical energy from the produced biogas, provided that the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) grid in the area is able to receive it.
Based on the planning, it is proposed that the “Vati” site will receive waste and contaminated soil from eight other landfills in the Limassol District. The restoration and aftercare works include the collection and shaping of all waste into a uniform mass with appropriate slopes, the isolation and sealing of the waste through the installation of successive synthetic geomembranes, as well as the final covering of the waste with soil and topsoil.
The collected wastewater will flow to the lower points of the site through pipelines, will be directed to a watertight reservoir and subsequently transferred via pipeline to the treatment plant for domestic septage and industrial waste in Vati.
At the same time, an active biogas collection and management system will be constructed, through which the biogas will be directed to a flare for combustion.
Additionally, the contract provides for the installation of power generators for energy production, subject to the condition that the EAC grid in the area can absorb the generated capacity. Preliminary calculations indicate that the produced biogas could supply a power generation unit with a capacity of 1.8 MW. Otherwise, alternative methods for the utilization of the biogas will be examined.
The site will be planted with species of Cypriot flora with low water requirements, and firebreak zones will also be created. The implementation of the project, which has been delayed, is considered necessary to proceed as soon as possible, as it is included among the projects that Cyprus is obliged to implement within the framework of its commitments and the relevant European Union directives.
