Vince Magri knows that sometimes, you have to play the game. Wasteserv has its eye on a number of disused quarries that it wants to fill with inert waste but the owners are still wavering. So he used this interview to drop polite hints: Within three years, the government should have finalised the environmental impact assessments and other planning procedures for artificial islands made from this inert waste. The message? If you want us to pay for your quarries, better think about it now as they will simply not be required once offshore dumping starts.
Disused quarries were originally identified as the ideal location for inert waste in 1997, but it took years for the scheme to be put into practice, during which time Maghtab continued to receive some 1.6 million tonnes per year of mixed waste, of which 1.2 million tonnes was inert waste, 80 per cent of which was pure excavated material.
"We unfortunately label the material as waste because we do not have any use for it - not because it is contaminated," he said. "We looked into the feasibility of using this inert waste to make plaster filler but there is very small amount of contamination which makes it very expensive."
Eventually, the tender for inert waste was awarded to one of the largest contractors in Malta, Polidano Bros.
"Wasteserv kept responsibility for the sites' management so we pay Polidano for the service provided and claim the cost from the client who has material to dump. With Polidano, we actually deduct the cost of his own material directly from his fees so a fifth of the waste is dealt straight away, so to speak."
So far 15 quarries have been filled but there are only enough to be able to take the inert waste for five more years - and that only if the owners come forward. This is why the only realistic long-term solution is to construct artificial islands. Of five sites, two were shortlisted (at Xghajra and Maghtab) and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is carrying out a feasibility study before deciding whether to proceed.
In Gozo, management of inert waste was immediately taken over by the private sector and for years went smoothly. However, the contractor subsequently decided he was no longer interested in providing the service and Wasteserv was called in.
"Another site in Gozo should be established in the coming weeks which will accept waste either for deposit on land or at sea. It is a shame that we do not already have the site for the islands identified!" he said.
This scheme has stopped the old landfills from getting any bigger but this did not solve the problem of the past. Qortin was closed in April 2004, and since then Wasteserv has been shifting material to ensure that the edges were stable. A layer of inert waste is also being laid down to prevent contaminated material from blown off Maghtab into the sea.
In the meantime, Wasteserv is contracting for the works it requires at the engineering landfills, such as excavating or lining, rather than awarding the tender as a build and operate.
"The reason we did this is because the user is paying around €1 per ton but the cost of managing that waste is €12 per tonne, with another €12 per tonne to construct the landfill. If a contractor managed the waste, he would pay us €1 and we would pay him €12; if that were the case I am sure that he would generate as much waste as possible!" Mr Magri explained. The only part of the waste management system left to set up is the hazardous waste treatment facility, the tender for which should be out by January.
So much for inert waste. What about the rest of it, especially recyclables?
There are now 200 public bring-in sites, which Wasteserv intends to double. There are also another 200 at schools.
The move from glass bottles to plastic means that volumes of plastic will increase by an estimated 25 per cent. Wasteserv plans to double the number of plastic bins and is also appealing to the public to squash their bottles, which reduces their volume by a third. "It does not make sense to have bins full of bottles that are essentially empty space!" he said. Wasteserv is also considering paying - from eco-tax contributions - for plastic brought in to the civic amenity sites in quantity as this would save on collection costs. Aluminium cans are also being welcomed as they sell for a good price.
At the moment there are CA sites at Maghtab and Mriehel while another at Hal Far will soon be inaugurated. A site in Luqa is being constructed but one at Tal-Kus in Gozo has been held up at the permit stage.
"The CA sites were an immediate success. On one Saturday, one had 193 visits and midweek it gets around 100 visits a day," he said.
As a result of an EU directive, electronic goods also have to be collected, which can either be sold for scrap or which have to be recycled at Wasteserv's expense. Private companies are interested in running schemes in conjunction with Wasteserv although nothing has yet been finalised.
Wasteserv also pays companies like Metalco and C&V Polymers hundreds of thousands if liri a year to deal with waste like tyres and cardboard.
Vehicles are a bit more of a problem, especially since an EU directive lays down stringent recycling standards known as the "end of life".Since 2002, Wasteserv has been working with scrapyards to get rid of the hundreds of abandoned cars that the police take off the streets.
"In 2002 we introduced a certificate of destruction. We destroy the vehicle, recover the plates and return them to the Malta Transport Authority so that it can be struck off the register.
"We are sending the material to scrapyards. They were illegal until there was an amendment to the law: If they were in operation before a specified date, their operations were sanctioned. It is not practical to assume that everything can become compliant overnight. Most of these sites need heavy investment and the permit procedure is cumbersome," he said.
The final piece of the picture is Sant Antnin. The material recovery facility should be ready by January, and it is here that dry recyclables like plastic bottles will be taken to get baled for export. Equipment and tanks for the composting system arrive in the next weeks and civil works are also at an advanced stage. This should be up and running by the middle of next year.
Valuable vents
Malta has huge volumes of waste to deal with in a limited space but the visible aspect is not nearly as important as what cannot be seen: carbon emissions.
The country has to cap its emissions or face fines and since methane - the gas emitted by decomposing waste - is 25 times as harmful as carbon dioxide, this is the obvious place to start.
At the Zwejra landfill, it is estimated that the equivalent of 19,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide is being emitted every year.
But the methane can be drawn out of the core of the landfill and put to good use. The process is simple: You drill a hole and use negative pressure (a vacuum) to draw the methane out of the pockets throughout the buried waste. Once it is brought to the surface, it can be piped to a generator and burnt as fuel.
Wasteserv is extending the high tension cable from the substation at Maghtab so that the power generated can be fed into the Enemalta network.
Reducing carbon emissions can actually generate revenue. If the project qualifies as a Clean Development Mechanism project, the amount of gas prevented from reaching the atmosphere is measured as certificates, each equal to one tonne equivalent of carbon dioxide, which can be traded for as much as €15 each. If Malta is producing too many emissions elsewhere, say from its power generation, it can trade internally with Wasteserv and save itself from massive fines which could run to millions of euro over the coming years.
The Zwejra landfill was created with EU funding and so does not qualify as a CDM project under current rules but it is estimated that Ghallis generates another 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, which could qualify. Wasteserv is awaiting approval from the United Nations.
"The validation process was carried out recently and the application formally sent in for consideration. We expect an answer shortly," Mr Magri said.
Apart from methane, the terraces being created at the landfills are also being used for photovoltaic set-ups and heat exchange systems. Wasteserv is already planning to show off all these renewable energy sources at the visitors' centre.
Imagine: From being an environmental disaster, the landfills could one day be the model for renewable energy.
Burn, baby, burn...
The incinerator issue has been an unhappy one from the start. For years, the St Luke's hospital one has churned out its sticky black soot. Finally it is gone, replaced by an incinerator that was not originally intended for clinical waste at all.
The specifications were drawn up by the veterinary authorities with the abattoir in mind but went well beyond what was necessary. Mr Magri did not feel it was appropriate to comment on a decision in which he was not involved and said it was pointless to cry over spilt milk.
"Should we launch an investigation into what happened or should we ask whether what we are commissioning is suitable for our country and for our needs? As it is, instead of having different incinerators to cope with different types of waste, we have one that will deal with all of them: clinical, abattoir, hazardous and industrial waste," he said.
"We understand that the size was calculated to ensure sufficient capacity should there be a infection that would require nationwide culling. But as it now stands, we will be using its full capacity every day - and in case of an emergency, we would be able to reschedule its regular, non-urgent work."
Wasteserv may at least have an incinerator that spells the end of emissions but that is not the end of the story. It also wants to make it more environmentally friendly at the other end of the process. It is seeking Lm600,000 from the European Investment Bank for equipment that will make it virtually self-sufficient in terms of fuel consumption.
Mr Magri estimates that a turbine could generate 400KW, the equivalent of the requirement of 500 households, enough to amortise the original outlay within three years. "In fact, we might be able to generate more than we actually need. We are not out to generate revenue as we are a government entity but the intention is to run the incinerator as an independent cost centre, which would eventually be taken over by the private sector or run as a public-private partnership.
The incinerator will require diesel or biodiesel to start off with. The incinerator heats up the contents to 800 degrees C to destroy all the organic compounds but once that is done, the heat can be recovered. Since abattoir waste is mainly water, this can be turned into steam, some of which will be fed directly into the civil abattoir and used instead of their boilers, saving fuel there. The rest will be used to run the turbine, which can then run the incinerator.
The incinerator can also be run on the material itself in the case of used oil or solvents.
"We started off with an incinerator that would burn fossil fuels to get rid of abattoir waste but if we get the funds, we will have one that services not only the abattoir but also the medical sector and industry, which will use much less fuel and will cost less to run," he said.
Disused quarries were originally identified as the ideal location for inert waste in 1997, but it took years for the scheme to be put into practice, during which time Maghtab continued to receive some 1.6 million tonnes per year of mixed waste, of which 1.2 million tonnes was inert waste, 80 per cent of which was pure excavated material.
"We unfortunately label the material as waste because we do not have any use for it - not because it is contaminated," he said. "We looked into the feasibility of using this inert waste to make plaster filler but there is very small amount of contamination which makes it very expensive."
Eventually, the tender for inert waste was awarded to one of the largest contractors in Malta, Polidano Bros.
"Wasteserv kept responsibility for the sites' management so we pay Polidano for the service provided and claim the cost from the client who has material to dump. With Polidano, we actually deduct the cost of his own material directly from his fees so a fifth of the waste is dealt straight away, so to speak."
So far 15 quarries have been filled but there are only enough to be able to take the inert waste for five more years - and that only if the owners come forward. This is why the only realistic long-term solution is to construct artificial islands. Of five sites, two were shortlisted (at Xghajra and Maghtab) and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is carrying out a feasibility study before deciding whether to proceed.
In Gozo, management of inert waste was immediately taken over by the private sector and for years went smoothly. However, the contractor subsequently decided he was no longer interested in providing the service and Wasteserv was called in.
"Another site in Gozo should be established in the coming weeks which will accept waste either for deposit on land or at sea. It is a shame that we do not already have the site for the islands identified!" he said.
This scheme has stopped the old landfills from getting any bigger but this did not solve the problem of the past. Qortin was closed in April 2004, and since then Wasteserv has been shifting material to ensure that the edges were stable. A layer of inert waste is also being laid down to prevent contaminated material from blown off Maghtab into the sea.
In the meantime, Wasteserv is contracting for the works it requires at the engineering landfills, such as excavating or lining, rather than awarding the tender as a build and operate.
"The reason we did this is because the user is paying around €1 per ton but the cost of managing that waste is €12 per tonne, with another €12 per tonne to construct the landfill. If a contractor managed the waste, he would pay us €1 and we would pay him €12; if that were the case I am sure that he would generate as much waste as possible!" Mr Magri explained. The only part of the waste management system left to set up is the hazardous waste treatment facility, the tender for which should be out by January.
So much for inert waste. What about the rest of it, especially recyclables?
There are now 200 public bring-in sites, which Wasteserv intends to double. There are also another 200 at schools.
The move from glass bottles to plastic means that volumes of plastic will increase by an estimated 25 per cent. Wasteserv plans to double the number of plastic bins and is also appealing to the public to squash their bottles, which reduces their volume by a third. "It does not make sense to have bins full of bottles that are essentially empty space!" he said. Wasteserv is also considering paying - from eco-tax contributions - for plastic brought in to the civic amenity sites in quantity as this would save on collection costs. Aluminium cans are also being welcomed as they sell for a good price.
At the moment there are CA sites at Maghtab and Mriehel while another at Hal Far will soon be inaugurated. A site in Luqa is being constructed but one at Tal-Kus in Gozo has been held up at the permit stage.
"The CA sites were an immediate success. On one Saturday, one had 193 visits and midweek it gets around 100 visits a day," he said.
As a result of an EU directive, electronic goods also have to be collected, which can either be sold for scrap or which have to be recycled at Wasteserv's expense. Private companies are interested in running schemes in conjunction with Wasteserv although nothing has yet been finalised.
Wasteserv also pays companies like Metalco and C&V Polymers hundreds of thousands if liri a year to deal with waste like tyres and cardboard.
Vehicles are a bit more of a problem, especially since an EU directive lays down stringent recycling standards known as the "end of life".Since 2002, Wasteserv has been working with scrapyards to get rid of the hundreds of abandoned cars that the police take off the streets.
"In 2002 we introduced a certificate of destruction. We destroy the vehicle, recover the plates and return them to the Malta Transport Authority so that it can be struck off the register.
"We are sending the material to scrapyards. They were illegal until there was an amendment to the law: If they were in operation before a specified date, their operations were sanctioned. It is not practical to assume that everything can become compliant overnight. Most of these sites need heavy investment and the permit procedure is cumbersome," he said.
The final piece of the picture is Sant Antnin. The material recovery facility should be ready by January, and it is here that dry recyclables like plastic bottles will be taken to get baled for export. Equipment and tanks for the composting system arrive in the next weeks and civil works are also at an advanced stage. This should be up and running by the middle of next year.
Valuable vents
Malta has huge volumes of waste to deal with in a limited space but the visible aspect is not nearly as important as what cannot be seen: carbon emissions.
The country has to cap its emissions or face fines and since methane - the gas emitted by decomposing waste - is 25 times as harmful as carbon dioxide, this is the obvious place to start.
At the Zwejra landfill, it is estimated that the equivalent of 19,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide is being emitted every year.
But the methane can be drawn out of the core of the landfill and put to good use. The process is simple: You drill a hole and use negative pressure (a vacuum) to draw the methane out of the pockets throughout the buried waste. Once it is brought to the surface, it can be piped to a generator and burnt as fuel.
Wasteserv is extending the high tension cable from the substation at Maghtab so that the power generated can be fed into the Enemalta network.
Reducing carbon emissions can actually generate revenue. If the project qualifies as a Clean Development Mechanism project, the amount of gas prevented from reaching the atmosphere is measured as certificates, each equal to one tonne equivalent of carbon dioxide, which can be traded for as much as €15 each. If Malta is producing too many emissions elsewhere, say from its power generation, it can trade internally with Wasteserv and save itself from massive fines which could run to millions of euro over the coming years.
The Zwejra landfill was created with EU funding and so does not qualify as a CDM project under current rules but it is estimated that Ghallis generates another 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, which could qualify. Wasteserv is awaiting approval from the United Nations.
"The validation process was carried out recently and the application formally sent in for consideration. We expect an answer shortly," Mr Magri said.
Apart from methane, the terraces being created at the landfills are also being used for photovoltaic set-ups and heat exchange systems. Wasteserv is already planning to show off all these renewable energy sources at the visitors' centre.
Imagine: From being an environmental disaster, the landfills could one day be the model for renewable energy.
Burn, baby, burn...
The incinerator issue has been an unhappy one from the start. For years, the St Luke's hospital one has churned out its sticky black soot. Finally it is gone, replaced by an incinerator that was not originally intended for clinical waste at all.
The specifications were drawn up by the veterinary authorities with the abattoir in mind but went well beyond what was necessary. Mr Magri did not feel it was appropriate to comment on a decision in which he was not involved and said it was pointless to cry over spilt milk.
"Should we launch an investigation into what happened or should we ask whether what we are commissioning is suitable for our country and for our needs? As it is, instead of having different incinerators to cope with different types of waste, we have one that will deal with all of them: clinical, abattoir, hazardous and industrial waste," he said.
"We understand that the size was calculated to ensure sufficient capacity should there be a infection that would require nationwide culling. But as it now stands, we will be using its full capacity every day - and in case of an emergency, we would be able to reschedule its regular, non-urgent work."
Wasteserv may at least have an incinerator that spells the end of emissions but that is not the end of the story. It also wants to make it more environmentally friendly at the other end of the process. It is seeking Lm600,000 from the European Investment Bank for equipment that will make it virtually self-sufficient in terms of fuel consumption.
Mr Magri estimates that a turbine could generate 400KW, the equivalent of the requirement of 500 households, enough to amortise the original outlay within three years. "In fact, we might be able to generate more than we actually need. We are not out to generate revenue as we are a government entity but the intention is to run the incinerator as an independent cost centre, which would eventually be taken over by the private sector or run as a public-private partnership.
The incinerator will require diesel or biodiesel to start off with. The incinerator heats up the contents to 800 degrees C to destroy all the organic compounds but once that is done, the heat can be recovered. Since abattoir waste is mainly water, this can be turned into steam, some of which will be fed directly into the civil abattoir and used instead of their boilers, saving fuel there. The rest will be used to run the turbine, which can then run the incinerator.
The incinerator can also be run on the material itself in the case of used oil or solvents.
"We started off with an incinerator that would burn fossil fuels to get rid of abattoir waste but if we get the funds, we will have one that services not only the abattoir but also the medical sector and industry, which will use much less fuel and will cost less to run," he said.