Three tonnes of plastic, glass and metal were collected from Golden Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa and Għadira Bay since Wasteserv installed recycling bins at the start of summer.

Wasteserv in collaboration with Nature Trust are both involved in Blue Islands, an EU-funded project, and are in the meantime conducting periodic beach surveys to identify how waste generation varies seasonally and how it is affected by tourism.

The surveys are being carried out at three beaches; Golden Bay, Ġnejna Bay and Ballut ta’ Marsaxlokk, and consist in the collection, characterisation and quantification of micro- and macro-plastics at the selected beaches.

The samples are shipped to Spain for analysis by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, which is also a partner in the Blue Islands project.

The same beach surveys are being carried out by the other project partners, namely, Cyprus, Mykonos, Crete, Rab, Sicily, Sardinia and Mallorca. The findings will be put into a comprehensive report to be used for measuring the correlation between tourism and waste. In addition, tools will be created to tackle the consequences of any seasonal increase in waste.

The Blue Islands project is funded by the Interreg MED instrument with an 85% EU co-financing and is being implemented over a period of three years.