Quarry owners accepting construction waste in their facility will have the possibility to pay 10 per cent final withholding tax on the profits generated from this activity, under a government incentive rolled out today.

Addressing a news conference, Environment Minister Jose Herrera said that this fiscal measure was part of government's plan to address the acute shortage of construction waste dumping facilities.

Under this scheme quarry owners accepting construction waste at a price not exceeding €5.50 per ton excluding VAT would be eligible for the reduced tax rate.

Last month, the environment minister had rolled out new regulations whereby it would be requisitioning parts of disused and operational quarries, for the disposal of construction waste.

Dr Herrera this afternoon announced that as a result of these measures, seven quarries in the limits of Żurrieq are being used for such purpose. Moreover, Malta's largest quarry would also join this list in the coming weeks.

Asked about the government's long-term plans to address this problem, he said that land reclamation would eventually have to be considered, as exporting waste would be too costly and excavating new quarries would have a major environmental impact.

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