An update of the October 2001 Solid Waste Management Strategy for the Maltese Islands should soon be published. Experience with waste management in recent years has shown that waste issues can easily develop into a highly controversial affair and it has to be admitted that, in some particular instances at least, not many would like to be in the decision-makers' shoes.
Deliberating about where to site waste treatment facilities is a case in point. That our islands need to develop a modern and more efficient waste management infrastructure is no contentious matter. The challenge that lies ahead may be more about having all stakeholders - Government, MEPA, WasteServ, local councils, political parties, NGOs, industry and private sector entities, and the public at large - collaborating proactively such that sustainable and socially acceptable solutions are arrived at.
So far at least, Malta's success in the waste field still leaves much to be desired. According to the 2005 State of the Environment Report, only 1,954 tonnes of solid waste were separated in 2004 and just 967 tonnes were recycled. The Maltese Islands' annual waste total for 2004 was circa 2.5 million tonnes, about 88% of which was construction and demolition waste.
This waste category has increased by 112% between 1996 and 2004. So much for the sustainability of the local construction industry and its practices! Municipal solid waste figures for 2004, accounting for most of the remaining 12%, may be crudely estimated at around 300,000 tonnes.
Generation of this waste type has increased by 45% between 1996 and 2004, with 1995 estimates standing roughly at 140,000 tonnes. Sewage management presents another thorny issue, though plans for upgrading our sewage treatment facilities should already be underway. So far, most of this noxious material still ends up untreated in the sea.
What are Malta's targets for, say, biodegradables? Article 5 (2) of EU Directive 1999/31/EC, the Landfill Directive, stipulates that, taking 1995 as baseline year, member states should gradually reduce the amount of landfilled biodegradable waste first to 75%, then to 50%, and ultimately 35%, over a 15-year period after the Directive enters into force. This legal instrument also specifies which waste types should eventually be landfilled.
Malta has transposed the Landfill Directive into national legislation through Legal Notice 168 of 2002, which sets July 15, 2020 as deadline for conformity with the present EU legal regime on waste. Public awareness and education campaigns apart, is Malta acting fast enough to ensure that these deadlines are met within the established timeframes? The rehabilitation of landfills - the issue had already been raised back in 1997 - together with the recently initiated project aiming to recover energy from Maghtab, are clearly steps in the right direction. The same applies to the setting up of regional civic amenity sites and the promotion of bring-in sites, albeit better monitoring may be warranted to ensure proper use of the latter.
The limited size of the Maltese Islands, with our population density ranking among the highest in the world, severely restricts the number of potential alternative sites where the much needed waste heavy infrastructure, including recycling plants, may be developed. Perhaps, our experience with the Sant'Antnin plant has even made local waste management matters even more complicated! Indispensable as any consultative EIA process may be, reassuring the public about any potential or perceived impacts and hazards resulting from waste treatment processes is no piece of cake.
What role should local councils play in the site selection process for waste treatment facilities? Given their sphere of influence and respective geographical jurisdiction, it is likely that no site may be remote enough to present itself as an "uncontroversial" option for the setting up of a major waste facility. Ultimately, however, it all boils down to striking the right balance between national and local interests; and this is not always straightforward.
Some form of consensus, however, already seems to be emerging - rather than investing in one large waste recycling plant, for example, the process seems heading towards management on a regional basis with a very limited, though yet unspecified, number of smaller plants spread across the islands. Strategic considerations apart, wouldn't it be fair to adopt a burden-sharing approach in the management of certain waste categories? We all generate waste, after all!
The parameters for implementing a waste management policy within a regional context may still require better elucidation. It is hoped that the pending national waste management strategy document should, partly at least, serve to fulfill this purpose. As a first step, however, all main stakeholders should strive towards a more formal national consensus on waste policy.