EU urges Malta to adopt packaging waste law

The European Commission has indicated Malta as one of the member states that still has to incorporate a new packaging waste law into Maltese legislation.

In its accession negotiations Malta obtained a transition period up until 2013 to implement the new recycling and recovery targets for packaging waste but it still had to adopt the new law by the end of last week.

The Commission has warned that if Malta does not comply within the coming weeks, it will initiate legal proceedings.

The new recycling and recovery targets for packaging waste set by the Commission will mean a revolution for Malta's waste management system.

In eight years' time, Malta will have to start recycling a minimum of 60 per cent of all its glass and paper waste, 50 per cent of all metals, 22.5 per cent of plastics and 15 per cent of all its waste which includes wood.

Although WasteServ, the government's waste management agency, has already started recycling some materials, this is still considered to be an experiment and waste recycling and reuse levels in Malta are still regarded to be low when compared to the EU average.

The new directive to be implemented by member states updates and strengthens an earlier directive set in 1994. It aims to further reduce the negative environmental impacts created by the landfilling and incineration of packaging waste and by the production of virgin materials.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement that the new recycling targets are a further step towards a more sustainable society.

"The new directive strengthens the recycling industry and also enables consumers to actively participate in recycling schemes and to show their commitment to a more responsible management of packaging waste. I am confident that member states will do their utmost to implement the new rules swiftly so they can have full effect throughout the EU."

Currently, every European citizen is, directly or indirectly, responsible for the creation of close to half a kilogramme of packaging waste per day. Much of it can be recycled. This would avoid the environmental impacts related to the production of virgin materials and thus saves resources and avoid emissions to air and water during the production process.

At the same time, less packaging waste is sent to final disposal. This not only avoids further air and water emissions but also reduces the need to create new landfills and incinerators.

Compared to a scenario of zero recycling, the recycling of packaging saved around 0.6 per cent of total EU greenhouse gas emissions at an additional cost of around €500 million in 2001.

Once Malta transposes the new directive, the text of the legislation will have to be sent to the Commission where a compliance check will take place.