WasteServ defends planned recycling plant

The upgraded Sant'Antnin recycling plant will not process all the waste produced in Malta and Gozo but only a third, WasteServ said.

The agency was responding to comments made by Labour MEP Joseph Muscat during a meeting with the Committee Against the Proposed Recycling Plant on Wednesday. Mr Muscat insisted that the recycling plant should not be allowed to materialise anywhere in Malta, not just in Marsascala.

WasteServ Malta chief executive officer Vince Magri explained that the Solid Waste Management Strategy for the Maltese Islands, launched in October 2001, clearly stated that the plant was to be upgraded to treat 200,000 tonnes of waste per annum. Although the strategy was drawn up on this worst case scenario, the design and application for funds were based on a maximum input of 71,000 tonnes per annum - less than the 83,000 tonnes a year handled by the existing plant. "The plant will be treating 36,000 tonnes of dry recyclables primarily from bring-in-sites - plastic, paper, glass, metal - and 35,000 tonnes of organic waste used to produce electrical energy which will be fed into the national grid. The final product will be stabilised to produce compost."

WasteServ's CEO argued that the proposed development, which had an investment of €16.7 million co-funded by the European Union, was a sustainable solution to the current problems experienced by the plant.

"The improved facility will also allow the recycling of materials, and will result in better quality compost. It will produce energy for over 1,000 households," he said.

Mr Magri said EU-funded studies would be carried out into the sustainable treatment of the rest of the waste.