Updated - Adds copy of issues paper on pdf below

Environment Minister Leo Brincat this afternoon issued "an issues paper" to serve as a preliminary consultation document before the drafting of a new waste management plan.

Speaking in the quiet surroundings of the garden at his ministry in Casa Leone, Mr Brincat said the Government wanted to consult people and stakeholders at the very start of the process.

The Government has to submit its waste plan to the European Commission by the end of the year. The plan will cover the period 2014 to 2020.

Asked whether the Government will consider waste incineration as part of the plan, Mr Brincat was non-committal. "It would be presumptuous for me to set the agenda when we have not yet heard what the people and stakeholders have to say."

However, Mr Brincat said some aspects of the current strategy had to be strengthened and others changed.

He urged stakeholders to take on board ideas that were tried and tested abroad, adding there was a tendency in the country to reinvent the wheel.

The Ministry will be receiving comments until July 21 that will be followed by specific consultation meetings.

Asked about the studies he had commissioned on Wasteserv, the Government waste management agency, Mr Brincat said they were being concluded. He reiterated that the reports will be published.

The issues paper can be seen by clicking the pdf below.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com