About 6,000 visitors made the open weekend at the new and improved Sant’Antnin waste recycling plant a “hugely successful” one, a government spokesman said yesterday.

The open weekend started on Friday and ended yesterday afternoon but visiting hours were extended because of the high turnout. An estimated 3,000 people visited the plant on Sunday alone. People of all ages and families with children took the 30-minute tour of the plant, which is run by WasteServ.

The upgraded plant was officially launched on Thursday morning. That evening, in perhaps a foretaste of the huge interest that the facility has generated, hundreds of Marsascala residents attended another event hosted by WasteServ and attended by the Prime Minister, which was open to people from the neighbouring areas.

The plant, on which €27 million has been spent to modernise, will pre-treat organic waste through a mechanical process that removes the material to be rejected. The waste is then passed into an enclosed digestion plant that contains any foul smells from being released into the atmosphere.