Any government measures to put greater emphasis on the separation of domestic waste are likely to fail unless there is strict enforcement – possibly by imposing fines – Green MT CEO Joe Attard said yesterday.
However, the Environment Ministry has already ruled out this possibility, saying it has no intention of introducing taxes on waste collection.
Mr Attard, who also represents waste collectors, was reacting to proposals listed in the Waste Management Plan, which was unveiled for public consultation last week by the Environment Ministry.
Waste separation in Malta has not yet taken off as in other countries
Green MT is a subsidiary company of the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU and specialises in the collection of recyclable material.
One of the most drastic proposals in the plan is to reduce the door-to-door collection of mixed domestic waste, in black garbage bags, from once a day to just once a week.
However, organic material including kitchen leftovers and garden waste would have to be separated. This would place the onus on households to sort their waste into three different categories, including recyclable material which is already being collected in the grey garbage bags.
The proposal is to have this system in place from 2015 onwards, when organic waste and recyclable material would start to be collected twice or three times a week.
A spokeswoman for the Environment Ministry stressed that at this stage it was just a proposal subject to public scrutiny and consideration.
Mr Attard welcomed the publication of the consultation document but warned against trying to introduce too many changes at once.
He said that unless there was enforcement, possibly by imposing fines, a significant number would not bother to sort their rubbish. “Waste separation in Malta has not yet taken off as in other countries, mainly due to the lack of enforcement,” he said.
The only way to go about these issues, he said, was to introduce stricter enforcement on households on the same lines as existed in northern European countries.
“For me it is inconceivable how some people manage to spend more than two weeks without disposing of any plastic or other forms of recyclable material,” Mr Attard added.
He said that at face value, some of the proposals – like those to increase the frequency of collecting recyclable and organic waste – meant that the current fleet of 51 vehicles would not be enough. Mr Attard also expressed concern that three weekly collections would not be sustainable.
“Experience has shown that in those localities where recyclable material was collected twice a week, there was a 30 per cent drop in the volume of material collected the second time round,” he said.
Regarding the proposal to collect mixed domestic waste only once a week, he conceded that this may be too ambitious.
“Probably the best compromise would be to have two collections of recyclable, organic and mixed waste per week.”
Mr Attard also reacted to the idea of having smaller waste collection vehicles up to a capacity of four tonnes.
He said that such a proposal would need to be implemented gradually, as a number of waste collectors cannot afford such an expense after having just upgraded their fleet to Euro IV standard.
The plan also suggests the regionalisation of waste collection. Once again Mr Attard called for a gradual approach as some local councils had contractual commitments spanning over a number of years which they were bound to observe.
Regarding night collections, he said they agree in principle but there have been complaints of disturbances.
“Once again it boils down to money, as the solution would be to use lithium battery-powered vehicles, like the ones in Scandinavian countries which are completely silent,” said Mr Attard. He added that waste collectors would seriously consider purchasing these vehicles if the Government was willing to subsidise part of the capital investment.
Mr Attard said the GRTU will be convening its members in the coming days, prior to submitting its feedback to the Government.