More than double the amount of waste recovered in 2010 was collected in the following year, the National Statistics Office said.

It said that recovered waste in 2011 advanced by 139 per cent.

The total amount of treated waste treated in Malta amounted to 1,015 thousand tonnes, down by

25.8 per cent when compared to 2010.

Municipal waste made up 23.2 per cent of all waste managed.

The amount of waste managed in public landfills decreased by an average 1.7 per cent per year between 2004 and 2011.

On average, from 2004 to 2011 municipal waste constituted 85.2 per cent of the total amount of waste managed in landfills. On average 7.9 per cent of the total amount of waste which entered the landfill site in 2010 and 2011 was diverted from landfilling to other waste treatment operations.

A total 86.8 per cent of all non-hazardous mineral waste was treated in quarry sites. The amount of waste managed in quarries decreased, on average, by 11.5 per cent per year.

Non-hazardous mineral waste, which is generated by large scale excavations and dredging works, is disposed at sea.

In 2011, 59.8 thousand tonnes were treated at the Sant’Antnin Waste Treatment plant, considerably more than in 2010.

The waste input at the Marsa Thermal Treatment Plant averaged 6,645 tonnes per year between 2008 and 2011. During this period 91 per cent of the total amount of incinerated waste consisted of animal tissue waste and by-products of animal rearing.

Waste collected from bring-in sites increased from year to year except in 2009, reaching a peak in 2011 when almost 5,000 tonnes were collected.

The separate collection of paper, metal and plastic was enhanced from 2008 onwards when the grey bag collection scheme was introduced.

By 2010, the amounts collected by this scheme had more than doubled, stabilising at around 9,700 tonnes.

Waste collected from Civic Amenity Sites continuously increased since 2006 with almost 22,000 tonnes collected by 2011.