A substantial amount of the glass that is being stored at Wied Fulija is to be processed and used in the rehabilitation of the same rubbish dump while the remainder will be exported, WasteServ said this afternoon.

It was replying to a news conference this morning, during which the PL's spokesman for the environment, Leo Brincat, said the government should explain why it has permitted the illegal storage of glass at Wied Fulija for many years and publish the necessary Mepa permits.

He said that according to the State of the Environment Report, the rubbish dump at Wied Fulija had to be transformed into a recreational park with EU funds ages ago.

The landfill was supposed to be closed in 2004 but facts showed otherwise and the PL had divulged that glass was being dumped there three years ago.

Leo Brincat.

The government had then said that this was being stored there temporarily for export.

But it was only now that the government had started thinking of exporting the mountain of glass that was badly stored at this rubbish dump without the necessary permits.

Mr Brincat said it seemed that before this could be exported, the glass had to be cleaned because it was no longer in a good state for recycling.

But what was most shameful, he said, was the fact that the government kept this issue under wraps and never mentioned it, not even by Mepa in the State of the Environment Report when they specifically referred to Wied Fulija.

In its statement WasteServ said that between 2007 and 2011 it sent more than 6,800 tonnes of glass for recycling, sometimes at very high cost. A substantial amount of glass from that stored at Wied Fulija was also currently being stacked on a ship to be sent for recycling.

WasteServ said it continuously sought the best prices to export this material. It said that Wied FUlija was used as a rubbish dumb between 1979 and 1996 and noted that, as inert waste, glass did not react or contaminate the natural environment.