Until just eight years ago, Malta’s waste management was based entirely on dumping of all types of waste in a comingled manner. The Maltese islands had been scarred with a legacy of dump sites, with the most recent being at Magħtab, Wied Fulija and Qortin (Gozo). At the onset of the new millennium, Malta was still utilising uncontrolled dumps at Magħtab and Qortin.
What other member states achieved over decades, Malta has achieved in just a few years- Ben Farrugia
With the advent of EU funds, these scars in our landscape are nowadays undergoing a rehabilitation process.
One of the first and urgent initiatives was to divert all inert waste from landfills at Magħtab and Qortin. As from May 2003, this waste was being directed to disused quarries which are nowadays being converted and reinstated for agricultural use. Apart from mitigating the adverse visual impact of these quarries, this contributed to a significant reduction in the volume of waste sent to public landfills.
In the meantime, as a result of accession to the EU, Malta had to align itself with EU legislation. The Landfill Directive set down specific rules related to the construction and operation of landfills. The Magħtab and Qortin dumps could never achieve these requirements and hence they were closed and new compliant engineered landfills set up.
According to the latest figures published by Eurostat, the amount of waste landfilled in 2010 dropped to 86 per cent, representing an improvement of about 10 per cent in just one year.
This decline is attributable to a greater participation by the community in recycling, particularly following the introduction of bring-in sites, the kerbside collection of recyclables introduced in May 2008 and civic amenity sites. Latest figures maintained by Wasteserv show that Malta is on the right track in achieving a number of packaging waste targets. To these figures, one needs to also append recyclables that are being recovered within the private sector. The collection and treatment activities within private organisations must also be accounted for when considering Malta’s national reporting on waste management.
According to Wasteserv, it is evident that while in 2010, 85 per cent of the waste generated was being landfilled, in 2011 the landfilling percentage dropped to 59 per cent. This second major drop in landfilling is largely attributed to the operation of the mechanical biological treatment plant at Sant’ Antnin, where compost, biogas and electrical power are produced through the conversion of Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW), which is a significant part of what is commonly found in the black bag. Malta’s target for 2010 was to landfill up to 106,019 tonnes of BMW. Although this target was not achieved in 2010, given that 128,741 tonnes of bio-waste were landfilled, only 97,983 tonnes of BMW were landfilled in 2011, thus registering a sharp drop of over 30,700 tonnes in just one year. This indicates that we may be well on track in reaching our next target set for 2013.
New waste treatment plants are at present in the process of getting permits and securing EU funds. New facilities are essential to address the capacity shortfall as this will contribute towards further reducing our dependence on landfilling and gradually migrating to a zero-waste society. Coupled with this, one needs to mention the additional initiatives being nowadays undertaken by the private sector.
This is another area where due credit would be in order. Wasteserv was set up as a means of last resort, to act as a catalyst for those areas of waste management where it is still difficult for the private sector to operate. Because of its insularity, its sheer small size and adverse economies of scale, has enough waste for it to be a nuisance but not enough to make it a financially feasible proposition. We are also starting to see the tides changing in this sector with a number of permitted sorting facilities nowadays privately run, thus generating new green jobs. When talking of Malta’s recycling efforts, due credit needs also to be given to the valid contribution of the two authorised packaging waste recovery schemes which are helping producers to achieve their obligations.
Apart from completing the necessary infrastructure to comply with the requirements of the EU acquis, an area which definitely needs more attention is the adherence to the polluter-pays principle. Malta was mentioned as one of the member states with a low landfill fee. Another criterion on which member states were assessed is the implementation of pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) systems, a principle not yet implemented in Malta. In most member states, landfilling fees are far dearer, thus providing the financial incentive for the community and industry to separate their waste and hence divert waste from the landfill.
A PAYT penalises those who continue to persist in not separating waste at source, thus putting a burden on the remaining void space of our landfill while missing an opportunity to recover costs through recycling.
The recent assessment conducted by the European Commission of the 27 member states needs to be seen in the light of the above improvements and projects currently underway. Coupled with this, the assessment is based on statistics published by Eurostat for 2010; since then, there have been a number of improvements, most prominently the commissioning of the bio-digestion at the Sant’Antnin plant. Furthermore, the assessment does not only consider implementation issues, i.e. the establishment of waste treatment facilities, but also issues related to policy, documentation and reporting. Indeed, a good number of the criteria used as a benchmark related to legal and economic instruments which are as indispensable to waste management as the operative aspect itself. Pursuant to the urgent establishment of the essential operative infrastructure, this is the next area that Malta needs to address.
It should be acknowledged that, as a nation, we have made significant progress in a relatively short time. What other member states achieved over decades, Malta has achieved in just a few years. Indisputably, a lot still needs to be done.
It is worthwhile noting that most of the member states have a history of waste management dating back as far as 30 years, possibly more. Notwithstanding, if the rate of progress that has been achieved in recent years is maintained, there is no doubt that Malta will be among the topmost positions in waste management in a few years’ time.
This is a challenge not only of the Administration incumbent at the time but of each and every one of us. Are we doing enough? Is everyone doing enough? Definitely not! A great deal still needs to be done. Individually, we are all waste producers and hence we are all part of the problem irrespective of our social or political background. The real question should be “Who is ready to be part of the solution?”
Ben Farrugia is chairman of Wasteserv.