A mechanical treatment plant has been installed at Sant Antnin waste facility for the recycling of up to 35,000 tons of municipal waste per year.
Resources Minister George Pullicino said the new plant would separate waste and process it for recycling.
He said that as more waste was taken for recycling at Sant' Antnin, dumping in landfills would be consigned to history and waste would be reused as compost or converted to energy. Rejected material would be incinerated or disposed of in the landfills.
Material separated at the mechanical treatment plant would as from early next year be chanelled to a 'digester' which would be able to generate enough electricity to meet the needs of 1,400 famiies per year.