Church commission speaks on solid waste

The Church’s Environment Commission has generally praised the Solid Waste management plan consultation document published in January but said it was inconsistent in parts, especially where it spoke on the need of waste incineration.

The commission stressed the need for enforcement and accountability. Waste producers, it said, should assume responsibility and pay for the waste they produced, including through eco-contribution and schemes proposed in the strategy.

It was also essential that such schemes were operated transparently so that they would not be seen as cash cows but as effective tools which helped to reduce waste. Paying for the use of plastic bags, for example, was fair, the commission said.

When discussing incineration, the commission said that it could be that this was being opted for because the strategy had failed to reduce the waste going to landfills.

This choice should be made, the commission felt, on the basis of valid reasons and not suppositions. If such a strategy were to be adopted, one had to be careful not to create conditions which went against efforts to reduce the amount of generated waste.

The commission also commented on the national strategy aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.

Pointing out that it had been represented on the committee which prepared this document, the commission said that it felt the document had filled a void which had been felt locally.

The document made 87 recommendations and promoted a flexible strategy which could be adapted to the country’s needs and technological developments.

It also made it clear that Malta did not have the necessary structures to be able to draw up a holistic strategy on climate change.