Malta is nearly at the bottom of an EU scoreboard assessing the management of municipal waste, ranking 25 out of 27.
Only Bulgaria and Greece fared worse
The island was criticised for being slow to meet EU standards although efforts to improve were recognised, particularly compared to the situation before joining the European Union in 2004.
Out of 18 criteria used in the Commission’s study to benchmark member states, Malta only passes in five categories and fails all the others. Only Bulgaria and Greece fared worse.
The Commission will be using this report to prepare roadmaps for the 10 worst-performing member states, and that of course includes Malta.
Among the several shortcomings, the island has still not implemented a waste prevention programme, has very high levels of land filling, low recycling levels and is yet to reach targets on biodegradable waste.
Malta is still land filling 86.3 per cent of its total municipal waste and recycling only seven per cent, the study found.
Landfilling, an EU official told The Times yesterday, was Malta’s biggest waste problem, even though the amount going into landfills was being reduced every year. Disposing of waste in landfills was the worst possible way of dealing with it, he added.
“We are noticing many improvements in Malta and many projects are currently ongoing in order to dispose of municipal waste better. Despite this progress, Malta is still way behind our average standards,” the official said.
The study also identifies “outdated data on generation of municipal waste” and “scarce information on recycling capacity”.
“Data on import/export of municipal waste is not included in the waste management plan and information to properly assess existing capacity is not sufficient,” the report states.
Some positive developments were noted in the disposal of municipal waste, among them the access to waste collection services and compliance of existing landfills in regard to non-hazardous waste.
Over the past few years, Malta started work on a series of multi-million euro projects, particularly following the closure of Magħtab and the creation of a properly managed landfill.
National recycling was introduced and recycling facilities, particularly through an extension to the Sant’ Antnin plant in Marsascala, have recently been completed.
The study named Austria, he Netherlands and Denmark as the top three for municipal waste management.