A technical committee has concluded that the new incinerator at the abattoir could, with minor changes, handle waste from the Mater Dei Hospital, which is due to open in the middle of next year.

A decision is yet to be taken on whether the hospital will have an incinerator that would operate in synergy with the abattoir incinerator or whether the latter, alone, would be sufficient for the hospital's needs, Christopher Ciantar, the Director of Environmental Policy and Initiatives within the Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry, said in an interview.

The decision has not been taken yet due mostly to financial considerations.

"Of course it makes sense to combine the efforts into a single facility, but having only one incinerator can also be a disadvantage because if it packs up, contingencies are necessary," Mr Ciantar pointed out.

The abattoir waste treatment facility already has the required permits to operate, but if it is to be used for health care waste another application would need to be submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Mr Ciantar said.

The abattoir incinerator, operated by the government company WasteServ Malta Ltd, has recently been severely criticised by the Federation of Industry on the grounds of being in direct competition with the private sector and of not being in line with the government's own position on waste-to-energy.

The FOI also said the incinerator will only be cost-effective when nearing its full capacity of 12,970 tonnes annually, a volume which the abattoir would never generate.

Delays in the tendering process for a clinical waste disposal unit at the new hospital, which is intended to replace the polluting incinerator at St Luke's, has cast some doubts on whether such a unit will be up and running by the opening date.