Waste management

There is no doubt that waste management has become one of the major topics of discussion and indeed a great challenge for the country.

The problem has been with us for many years; maybe the monster of mount Maghtab served as catalyst to seek short- medium- and long-term solutions to bring the problem under control.

Primarily, I would say this is a national problem, and should be tackled on a national level, involving both the government and the opposition, whose energy should be concentrated on solving the problem, rather than on accusing each other of commissions or omissions.

The problem with Maghtab and waste management is massive; it therefore needs to be broken down into smaller problems which can be tackled with more ease and determination, and at a much faster pace.

What is the problem? Basically, we are producing 1.4 million tons of construction and other waste every year. At present, nearly all this goes to Maghtab. The San Antnin waste recycling plant is only operating at 25 per cent capacity.

The Maghtab mountain has to be closed down and an engineered landfill established.

The obvious point to start from is to tackle the construction waste. This accounts for 80 per cent of all waste produced. There are two phases to be considered: the first to find a short-term solution, followed by a second phase for long-term planning of waste management.

On a short-term basis, construction waste should be dumped either in old, exhausted quarries (which is already being done with some waste), or by barges, either out at sea, or at a selected site on the south coast of Malta, where the sea has a depth of 300 to 400 feet.

On a long-term basis, some of this material could be recycled and the rest used for land or sea reclamation on a planned basis. This long-term solution obviously requires more planning and time to implement but will solve 80 per cent of the waste problem.

Once Maghtab is closed down, we need an engineered landfill to replace it. But if we carry on with the present system of collecting waste, we would need a significantly massive landfill.

We need to organise the separation of waste at source. Once this infrastructure is in place, a continuous campaign should be invested in to educate people on the need of separating waste at source, thus enabling the recycling of some waste. At the same time, the San Antnin plant must be upgraded to operate at its full capacity.

There still remains the problem of an engineered landfill. This is a sore point because nobody wants it in his backyard.

If we try to solve the problem by looking for 300 tumoli of land for a landfill to serve for the next 20 years, the areas available would be very restricted.

So why not develop a landfill to serve for the next 10 years? A much smaller parcel of land would be needed, which can be found more easily, away from habitation and tourist zones.

I am sure that technology will improve in such a way that we will not need landfills to get rid of waste anymore. But even if this does not happen, once a small landfill is exhausted, another one can be developed, without much difference in costs.

The action taken to take an X-ray of the dump is a very good one. Once the results are available, a plan of action should be set in motion to clear this sore mountain of shame and transform it into a park, golf course, garden, or even restore it to its original beauty.

We have the experts, we have the people. We need to take decisions with clarity of mind and determination to move as fast as possible. In five years` time, we would look back with satisfaction at what we would have achieved!