Recycling is up and Malta is getting on top of the tip by slashing 50 kilos of waste a head in a year, according to Eurostat figures.
In 2009, Malta produced 647 kilos of municipal waste per inhabitant and although this may sound a lot – the figure remains one of the highest in the EU – the statistics show a reduction of 50 kilos per capita over the amount generated the previous year.
Malta ranks fifth among the 27 member states when it comes to generation of municipal waste, according to the EU’s statistical arm. The biggest EU generators of waste in 2009 were Denmark (833 kilos per capita), Cyprus (778 kilos), Ireland (742 kilos) and Luxembourg (707 kilos). At the other end of the scale, the lowest producers of domestic waste were former Communist countries Poland (316 kilos) and Latvia (333 kilos).
Apart from the environmental aspect, waste generation is usually also associated to a consumer society and the fact Malta was hit by a recession in the period under review could explain the lower rates of waste generation.
Tougher EU rules and multimillion euro investments in the island’s waste-treatment facilities, non-existent until a few years ago, are also giving encouraging results even though Malta still has a long way to go to reach EU levels of recycling.
Eurostat said during 2009 Malta managed to recycle four per cent of its municipal waste, an increase of one per cent over 2008. However, after Bulgaria and Romania, the island is still the member state with the highest level of landfill use – the worst sort of environment-friendly treatments. In 2009, Malta landfilled 96 per cent of its municipal waste, one per cent below the figure for 2008.
Other treatment methods, like incineration and composting, are still not used in Malta. This is expected to change in a few years’ time as a waste incineration plant is being built at Delimara while the Sant’Antnin waste treatment facility in Marsascala has been enhanced to treat more waste than it used to. Another two waste treatment facilities are also in the pipeline. These projects are being substantially financed by the EU.
On a general level, Eurostat said in 2009, the highest shares of incinerated municipal waste were observed in Sweden (49 per cent), Denmark (48 per cent), the Netherlands (39 per cent) and Luxembourg (36 per cent).
Recycling was most common in Germany (48 per cent), Belgium and Sweden (both at 36 per cent) while the highest composting rates for municipal waste were in Austria (40 per cent), Italy (32 per cent) and the Netherlands (28 per cent).