Soiled nappies and dead pets are among unwanted items people dump with separated waste intended for recycling, according to the manager of the Sant’Antnin Waste Plant.

“I think people do not realise employees have to sift through this stuff. Otherwise, why would they send it for recycling? It’s disgusting,” Mary-Grace Micallef, an engineer, said, as a room full of employees picked out used paper from a conveyer belt loaded with waste.

The Sant’Antnin plant is the island’s largest recycling facility, churning out more than 20,000 tons of material every year.

More than a quarter of this, however, is non-recyclable and ends up either incinerated or in the Magħtab landfill.

I think people do not realise employees have to sift through this stuff. Otherwise, why would they send it for recycling?

The majority of the recyclable material processed at Marsascala consists of plastic but Ms Micallef said workers were being bogged down having to sift through waste, which “is obviously not recyclable”.

“There are genuine mistakes and then there are acts of what seems like aggression.

“It’s not just disgusting things like dead animals, some of the most common items we find here are clothing. We get a lot of shoes and even larger objects like pushchairs,” she said.

Guidelines on what can be recycled are clearly printed on the large plastic recycling bins spread across the island.

Ms Micallef, however, pointed out the four categories of metal, paper, plastic and glass, were often being ignored entirely.

Peoples’ disregard for the selective waste policy had even resulted in accidents.

Workers at the Sant’Antnin plant were being bogged down having to sift through waste that “is obviously not recyclable”. File photo: Chris Sant Fournier

A worker was injured after being pricked by a hidden syringe while sifting through the waste stream. Others, she said, had often complained of potentially toxic waste such as acids and other industrial chemicals in the plastic and paper streams.

It is not the first time recycling plant workers have vented their frustration.

Last April, employees at the Sant’Antnin plant told Environment Minister Leo Brincat the area was infested with rats.

“Sometimes, there are more rats than plastic items. You’d see 60, 70 rats... It’s scary. When it gets dark there is a whole infestation,” one employee had told the minister.

Another employee had complained of health and safety standards at the facility.

Recycling facts

• Milk cartons and tetra packs (juice cartons) are common sight at the Sant’Antin plant but are not recycled locally.

• Washing tin cans before recycling may stop nasty odours from building up at home but it makes no difference to the recycling process. Any leftover material is removed when the cans are melted down.

• Animals are definitely not recyclable. These can be disposed of through a vet or delivery to the incinerator.

• Medical waste, including syringes, is considered hazardous waste and should only be disposed of at one of the civil amenity sites in Mrieħel, Ħal Far, Luqa, Magħtab and Xewkija.

• Although glass is recyclable, ornaments, drinking glasses, light bulbs, mirrors and window panes are not.