CYPRUS WOOL LABORATORY

Cyprus was the country selected to establish the EWE foundation since it is the EU country with the highest challenge regarding wool due to the importance of sheep milk in producing the traditional halloumi cheese in the Cypriot economy. The population of Cyprus is one million people, while the number of sheep in Cyprus is around 300,000 sheep, and in the next 3 to 5 years, this number will arrive at 700,000 sheep to be able to cover the needs for the halloumi production.

 

Due to the country's small size, in relation to the large volume of wool accumulated in the country, the problem is intense and therefore, solutions are emerging. Cyprus for EWE is a model country that can be used as a case study, where the different usages of the wool can also be explored in other European countries. Our long-term strategy for Cyprus is to create a central warehouse to collect tons of wool from the Cypriot farmers and then use trained staff to sort the different wool qualities. Once the qualities of the wool are sorted, we will start the process of producing wool balls and fertiliser.

 

Today, we have a contract cooperation with the CTC ARI – the Ministry of Agriculture farm, to use their wool for producing EWE wool balls for therapeutical knitting and organic biodegradable fertiliser. We are also planning to start educational programs for farmers to enable them to start sorting and using wool.

 

Moreover, we are in the process of creating the Roz Malli Foundation to promote therapeutical knitting in Cypriot hospitals, opening a section dedicated to wool in the park of Riverland, promoting felting sections and doing educational programs with wool.