A used battery collection service is to be transferred to the private sector as of next year, Environment Minister José Herrera said today.
The collection service, which is currently handled by Wasteserv, has seen 52,000kg of batteries gathered from schools since 2009. More than 6,100kg in batteries were collected from schools last scholastic year.
179 schools across Malta and Gozo took part in last year's Batterina initiative, which encourages children to bring used batteries to school, where they are then passed on to safely disposed of.
Students at St Francis School in Xagħra, Gozo were the most frequent users of the service, with an average of 6kg of batteries per student collected. The school has been rewarded with a €2,500 prize to be used for an environment-related project, or to be invested in school resources.
Dr Herrera announced that Wasteserv would cease to handle used battery collection during a ceremony held at the Xagħra school. He thanked Wasteserv for its work over the past years.
Gozo Minister Anton Refalo noted that it was the second consecutive year that a Gozitan school had collected the most used batteries per student.