The easiest way to get rid of waste is to deposit it in landfills. But this is the worst option since space is limited and landfills need a lot of care for a long period of time. What is Malta doing to reduce its landfilled waste? What should be done with unwanted materials? Rosanne Zammit takes a look at the targets the country has to meet and at several initiatives being taken to combat the problem.
It is no longer enough for one to pay taxes and expect the rubbish collector to pick up unwanted stuff door to door. A sense of responsibility is slowly being instilled in producers, according to Chris Ciantar, WasteServ's head of strategy and development.
If one did not produce waste, Dr Ciantar said, one should not have to pay for it but those who produce a lot of waste should be made to pay accordingly. This is what the polluter pays principle is all about.
Most of the EU directives relating to waste put the responsibility of the collection of waste products on those who had originally placed the products on the market.
Most of these directives now form part of Maltese legislation and have to be implemented. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority, for example, could ask certain producers how much waste they were recovering since the eco-taxation did not exempt producers from their responsibility to collect waste. But Mepa was not yet enforcing this regulation because the basic infrastructure for the directives to be enforced was still not in place, Dr Ciantar said.
He said producers abroad had developed several take-back schemes and similar ones were being set up here. It was through such schemes that the country would be able to reach its EU targets.
Mepa is in the process of drawing up guidelines regarding such schemes. WasteServ's job is to gather the material not collected in such schemes, participation in which can exempt or partly exempt producers from eco-tax, depending on the amounts they take back.
Dr Ciantar said that the introduction of eco-taxation helped importers and producers to realise the importance of the issue and discuss it.
And although no scheme has as yet been approved, several are being discussed, with the most advanced discussion being on a scheme by the importers and producers of beverages.
Although not part of any official scheme, the deposit on beverage glass bottles for re-use has long been practised in Malta. Through the relevant directives, it is not just the local producer who must adopt such a scheme but importers too.
One also had to realise the value of products which turn into waste and when separated their components could be resold, he said.
There should be schemes, for example, where someone buying a fridge received an incentive to return the old one.
On a positive note, despite the three per cent annual increase (by weight) projected for household waste, the yearly average increase has, since 2001, not exceeded about one per cent per annum.
Altogether, approximately 2,600 tonnes of plastic, paper, glass and metals were treated separately last year. Other waste streams collected separately include tyres, at 962 tonnes; electronic waste, 80 tonnes; green waste, 1,535 tonnes; pallets, 521 tonnes; bulky waste, 50,000 tonnes; and batteries, 18 tonnes.
These were collected through government initiatives with little or no responsibility being shouldered by the private sector so far.
Green Dot - a proposed collection scheme
The Maltese company GreenPak has put together a packaging waste compliance scheme based on the Green Dot concept. The scheme has been waiting for a Mepa permit for close to three years, Green Dot promoter Mario Schembri said.
Originally formulated in Germany, but since embraced by the vast majority of EU states, the Green Dot financing model has allowed EU countries to achieve very high recycling figures.
Under the Green Dot concept, companies accept the responsibility to recycle the packaging of their products. Consumers can identify which companies are actively recycling packaging by looking out for the Green Dot symbol on the product they buy.
Last year, GreenPak ran a pilot project for the separate collection of packaging and managed to achieve encouraging recovery rates for all forms of packaging including glass and plastic bottles and metal cans.
This is a clear indication that it is possible for Malta to catch up with the rest of Europe if private enterprise is allowed the opportunity to take root and grow, Mr Schembri said.
He said that although Malta is supposed to be recycling 30 per cent of all disposed packaging, according to the latest available data, barely one per cent of all packaging was collected last year.
As an EU member state, Malta had an obligation to recycle its spent packaging. Last year's recycling target was originally thought to be a modest goal when compared to the more ambitious 80 per cent by 2013.
Although these obligations are, through legislation, transferred onto retailers and the wider business community, no enforcement by the authorities is in place, Mr Schembri said.
He said that since last year, companies selling packaged goods were legally bound to recover and recycle packaging. This includes all forms of packaging, not only those used for food and drinks but also those for toiletries, stationeries, clothes, electrical goods and appliances, oil drums, paints as well as pallets and shrink film.
While the other new EU member states have long got their act together and are on track at achieving their packaging recycling quotas, Malta is falling behind candidate countries that are yet to join the EU such as Turkey and Bulgaria.
The key to success, Mr Schembri said, is for the government and private industry to work closely together.
Sant'Antnin - energy from waste
Malta produces some 200,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste each year, of which 71,000 will be taken to Sant'Antnin.
Right now, 35,000 tonnes of the waste are taken to Sant'Antnin as mixed. The remainder are the recyclables collected from the bring-in sites.
Once at Sant'Antnin, the recyclables are further separated to obtain a cleaner waste product which could be sold as better scrap.
When the new Sant'Antnin plant is in operation, the mixed material would be separated mechanically on a conveyer belt.
The organic waste would be used to recover energy. Dr Ciantar said that with 35,000 tonnes of waste, enough energy to supply 1,500 households with electricity for a year, every year, could be produced. The remaining waste (the high calorific fraction) would be stored. The EU allows the storage of such waste for three years.
There will be approximately 10 per cent of rejects which would be landfilled. Dr Ciantar pointed out that this arrangement still left about 130,000 tonnes of unaccounted for waste which is currently going to the landfill. And landfills are the least preferred option, especially for a country like Malta where space for agriculture and leisure is restricted.
If, eventually, another waste recycling plant is set up in a different area, the country would be able to recover more energy.
Sant'Antnin will, however, help the country reach the biodegradable waste target by 2010.
Another plant is required for other targets to be reached.
Waste twinning with Germany
The Maltese and German governments are finalising a twinning agreement which will lead to the development of systems for the implementation of European directives on producer responsibility in waste generation and management.
This exercise, announced by Environment Minister George Pullicino a few days ago, will cost €450,000. Workers will be trained in waste management responsibilities to facilitate the implementation of the producer responsibility principle.
The private sector will be trained and technical assistance will be provided to reduce the generation of waste.
The aim of the exercise is to lead the country to the implementation of the national waste management strategy, drawn up in 2001 and which is currently being revised in conformity with EU regulations. The project is to include training for WasteServ employees in waste management planning, the export of waste, the management of facilities such as landfills, compost facilities and civic amenity sites and general waste management principles.
Training on the testing of samples with the aim of safeguarding the environment will be provided to other government organisations, such as Mepa and the Malta National Laboratories.
Three university graduates will be identified for training in waste management practices with the aim of employing them in industry.
The project leader will be a Maltese WasteServ representative. He will be assisted by foreign twinning adviser who will be resident here.
Step-by-step separation
People after ask WasteServ when they are to start separating waste at source. Through the bring-in sites, waste separation has already started and everyone is encouraged to participate in this exercise, Dr Ciantar said. Naturally, before taking separation a step further, people have to adapt to the bring-in sites and their potential must be realised to the full. The waste separation process, Dr Ciantar said, will be taken one step at a time allowing for the development of the necessary infrastructure. "There is no point in people separating their waste and then the material recovery facility for the dry recyclables at Sant'Antnin is non-existent."
Other than that, Malta is also separating a lot of the bulky refuse to divert it for treatment, he said.
Five waste collection points planned
Civic amenity sites are to be developed in almost each of the six regions of the Maltese islands. The EU will be funding five such sites but a sixth may be set up.
Once collection schemes are in place, the organisers of such schemes can ask WasteServ to use these facilities as a collection point for the waste.
A Mepa permit has already been obtained for one of the five being funded by the EU, and the other four permits have been applied for.
Dr Ciantar expressed his wish to see a representative of the councils in the particular region involved in the administration of such sites.
Malta to have 700 bring-in sites
Even bring-in sites require a Mepa permit. Initially, this had been a complicated process which used to take two to three months. It has now been simplified.
Once councils approved areas to be used as bring-in sites, WasteServ applied for a Mepa permit. Once this was given, another permit was required from the Malta Transport Authority.
There are currently 70 bring-in sites but the number has to go up to 400.
But where would so many be placed?
Dr Ciantar said that people still looked at the sites in a negative manner because they were related to waste.
"We should learn to accept such sites and live with them to avoid having them hidden from view." In areas such as Valletta, bring-in sites could be underground. But to have the sites underground was more costly.
In other localities, such centres may be conveniently located in car parks, supermarkets and recreation areas and equipped with labelled and colour-coded containers for receiving and temporarily storing different recyclable materials.
Dr Ciantar pointed out that although bring-in sites have been in use for one-and-a-half years, people still threw all kinds of rubbish around them, such as bulky material. This was unacceptable especially since all councils provided a free bulky refuse service.
The correct waste was, however, being thrown inside the bring-in sites and the participation rates were on the rise.
The cleaner option - glass or plastic?
The local beverage market may eventually change over to plastic, a lighter, more convenient and safer material. Plastic offers a number of other advantages such as allowing beverages to be bottled in larger bottles due to the possibility of withstanding higher pressure. It is also lighter reducing transport costs.
But while some of the glass bottles are reused, plastic is generally thrown away, although there is a form of plastic which can be reused.
So which is the better option?
Documented studies show that from an environmental viewpoint if the option is between returnable plastic or returnable glass, returnable glass is better.
But Dr Ciantar believes that modern recycling technology has mitigated the negative environmental impact of one-way plastic and there is now a better recycling market for plastic compared to glass. All the plastic collected from bring-in sites in Malta is channelled for recycling.
Plastic recycling plant
Charles Brincat of C & V of Marsa has been working in plastic since his first job as production manager just after leaving university 25 years ago. He owns C & V and has been recycling four types of plastic for about eight years. Other plastics he receives, he treats and sends for recycling abroad.
Mr Brincat, who employs 10 people, has agreements with factories to buy waste plastic and he is now also getting that plastic that is recovered by WasteServ.
At his factory, the waste plastic is tested to define its type and is crushed and cleaned to remove all impurities. It is then melted and processed to a raw material.
Mr Brincat said because the country was small there would never be enough material to recycle on a large commercial scale.
He collects about 600 tonnes of plastic each year. He would like to embark on another recycling process to diversify his operation.