Door-to-door waste scheme gaining ground

Over three times as much separated packaging waste has been collected in the second week of the door-to-door scheme - 80 tonnes as opposed to 25 in the first week.

Resources Minister George Pullicino described the leap yesterday as a "huge improvement" on the start of the scheme, but he did not wish to speculate on whether that figure would improve.

However, the wheels of waste separation at source seem to be in motion, following three delays in its start - from April 1 to April 15 and finally, May 5.

The locality that pulled the most weight was Attard, where the public seems to have responded more to placing their metal, plastic and paper packaging waste into the grey plastic bags for specific collection.

Last Tuesday, Mr Pullicino told The Sunday Times, that Paola's streets were lined with the grey bags, and they appeared to contain the right stuff - eliminating the initial concern of abuse that would see households contaminate the grey bags with other non-recyclable waste.

But Mr Pullicino's satisfaction with the uptake of the scheme did not soften his approach to waste collectors, whom the government will not pay unless they adhere to the two-way agreement between them. The agreement, he said, was signed not just to collect the separated waste, but also to upgrade the way it was collected - and the waste collectors had to honour their end of the deal, he insisted.

It stipulates that they have to wear the proper health and safety gear, including gloves and the right shoes, but not all collectors were doing so, Mr Pullicino added.

The agreement also states that their vehicles should have a telephone number, indicating that the public can call to complain should the collectors be operating out of line, for example, by also collecting the standard garbage bags.