Before you take out your rubbish every morning just stop and give this figure a thought: 60 per cent of household waste can be turned into compost and you can be doing your share to protect the environment.

In the light of World Environment Day on Monday, Environment Minister George Pullicino said it was important to ram home the message of reducing, reusing and recycling the waste produced to create a sustainable future.

Mr Pullicino stressed this message while he was accompanying a number of WasteServ Malta Ltd trainees on visits to households, as part of a project co-financed by the EU's European Social Fund.

During these visits, the trainees explain to the families how to produce compost from the waste they produce in turn reducing the amount of waste produced on a national level.

On an annual basis, 250,000 tonnes of waste enter the engineered landfill - an astounding average of 700 tonnes per day.

"In Malta and Gozo we are generating an average of 170,000 tonnes of household waste, of which less than 100,000 tonnes is organic waste that can be turned into compost. If we do turn this amount to compost, we will be extending the lifespan of the Ghallis engineered landfill," Mr Pullicino said.

There are 24 trainees visiting households on appointment basis. More than 8,500 households have already been visited since September.

For the first time since the project was launched last year, the WasteServ trainees are also visiting households in Gozo, starting from Nadur. It is WasteServ's aim to reach about 40,000 households over a period of two years.

All those who would like to fix an appointment with the trainees to visit their household can call WasteServ on Freephone 8007 2200. This number can also be used for any request for information on reducing, reusing and recycling of waste.