The Għargħur local council has formally objected to plans for a waste-to-energy incinerator in Magħtab.
The council said the plant would negatively affect air quality in the locality.
In a statement announcing its decision, the council said it had informed Environment Minister José Herrera of its objections during a meeting the council held recently with him.
In February, Dr Herrera announced the government’s proposal for the waste-to-energy plant to be built in Magħtab. The plant will process 40 per cent of all Malta’s waste.
The facility will cost between €120 million and €150 million and will be a public-private partnership. The process is expected to start next year and scheduled for completion by 2023.
Dr Herrera said the 5,000-square-metre plant would process 114,000 tons of waste every year – all the waste that will be left over once the country reaches its recycling target of 60 per cent. To help to achieve this target, recycling at source will become mandatory with the introduction of new legislation.
Residents have already had enough of the Magħtab dump
The announcement accompanied the publication of a report commissioned by the government into the preferred technology and capacity of the new plant. Dr Herrera said the technology chosen was moving grate combustion, used at the vast majority of similar plants worldwide.
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The council said Dr Herrera had told them about the government’s plans to build the incinerator there but they objected, saying residents had already had enough of the Magħtab dump over the years. They said the incinerator would negatively affect the locality’s air quality.
The council said it would continue to follow developments about the proposed project and formulate its opinion on the matter by the time the consultation period on the project opened.
The council also said that it would appoint a council member to attend meetings about the project.
According to Paul Frith from the firm Frith Resource Management, which compiled a report for the government, the facility would have a lower climate change impact than landfills.
He explained there would be only a minimal impact on air quality – within industrial emissions limits – one of the major concerns raised by stakeholders on the government’s waste-to-energy committee.
Globally, he added, similar plants had been installed in city centres without negative impacts.
Malta currently generates 647 kilograms of waste per person every year, above the EU average of 420 kilogrammes.
At this rate, the Għallis landfill will reach capacity within two years and the government will use a hazardous material dump to house ordinary waste as a stopgap until the new plant is built.