Waste still left to recycle

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank those local councils or authorities responsible for Għadira and Golden Bay in particular (since those are the two beaches which I visit regularly) for taking the initiative this year to start using the waste separation bins. Last Sunday in particular at Għadira Bay I noticed workers emptying the filled bins and seeing to it that they were adequately used. To be working on Sunday, on crowded beaches with everyone relaxing around, in the scorching sun, in order to keep our beaches clean, is a big sacrifice.

On the other hand I would like to know when waste separation in Malta will start to be really seriously enforced! Improvements are being made like the above example of keeping our beaches clean, but what about the waste hotels produce and the waste in construction sites? It’s a fact that these two play a major role in providing jobs and directly or indirectly influence our economy. Also it’s a fact that we have a serious problem of dispensing with of our daily waste. But I have seen with my own eyes small jerrycans filled with used oil for fryers being thrown from hotels into skips which are used for day-to-day waste collection. Does anyone takes into consideration the amount of oil used in Maltese hotels during their daily kitchen routines and the amount that is thrown away once considered not good anymore for frying? What action is taken in order to monitor that correct waste management is done in large hotels and guest houses?

And is there a monitoring department for the big skips which are used for construction waste? They end up being used by all the contractors working on site who use these skips to throw away all types of waste. Big carton boxes of air conditioning units, scrap metal, waste plastic from plumbing, waste glasswork or damaged equipment. Once full the company responsible for providing the skips just sends someone who with no consideration of what the skip is filled with, loads it on his truck and goes off to throw everything away.

The examples mentioned above are just a few in order to try to show how much improvement needs to be made in order for us to have a better environment. To try to find a solution for our growing Magħtab dump site which can be seen from almost anywhere in Malta. And last but not least to try and improve ourselves because each one of us can make a difference by understanding and trying to choose recycling!