Scientists find 820 illegal rubbish tips in Cyprus

Scientists from the Cyens centre of excellence-affiliated software company Periopsis identified a total of 820 illegal rubbish tips between April and July, they announced on Wednesday.

The tips were found as part of the pilot stage of the company’s DumpMapper service, which uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to find illegal waste dumping sites.

DumpMapper was made available to the competent services at municipalities in Nicosia, Larnaca, Lakatamia, Paphos, Ypsonas and Livadia, with the stated aim of “locating and monitoring new tipping sites within their administrative boundaries.”

Additionally, the service provides an online platform which allowed the subsequent cleaning process to be managed and coordinated by the local authorities.

Periopsis said the highest frequency of illegal rubbish tips was found in municipalities with larger geographical areas but more sparsely spread populations, such as Ypsonas and Lakatamia.

This, it said, “indicates the increasing needs” in those areas.

It also found that a “significant amount” of litter was found near public roads.

“The completion of this pilot programme marks an important milestone in the fight against the illegal tipping of rubbish and other waste in Cyprus,” Periopsis said, adding that the project “provided important findings which can be further exploited to inform municipalities’ waste management strategies.

“This is a global innovation which is an excellent example of collaboration between local public bodies and the private sector, using emerging technologies to solve an important problem for Cyprus and many other countries,” it said.