Quarries take 1.5m tonnes of building debris

Nearly 1.5 million tonnes of construction waste were deposited in unused quarries in the first eight months of this year, a 92 per cent increase over such deposits in the previous eight months, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Last year, debris from the construction industry comprised the largest proportion of waste.

However, there was a significant drop in construction waste deposited in landfills since the practice of unloading debris in unused quarries was started that same year.

The second largest percentage of rubbish generated comprised municipal waste. In 2003, over 150,000 tonnes were deposited at Maghtab as opposed to some 84,000 tonnes in 1996.

Other important waste streams were related to commercial/industrial and mixed trade waste.

Waste residues were also treated at the Sant'Antnin recycling plant, the NSO said. A total of 32,000 tonnes were treated in 2001 and just over 24,400 tonnes last year.