F.O.I. Council Member and Environment Committee chairman Godwin C. Micallef was interviewed by Stefano Moncada, a senior research officer at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA), who is part of the Policy Co-ordinating Team of an EU-funded project entitled 'SENSOR'.

MEPA is a partner of SENSOR, which is partly funded by the EU Commission within the EU's Sixth Framework Research Programme. SENSOR's main product is the Sustainable Impact Assessment Tool, tailored to meet the needs of analysts and policy makers at a European level.

MEPA is carrying out the research into sustainability issues in Malta. Due to its role and expertise, the FOI was identified to take part in the project.

Besides sustainability issues, the interview also explored the driving forces responsible for the issues and the way various issues impact each other. Industry is committed to the principles of sustainable development, which implies a balanced approach to environment protection, as well as social and economic development.

Implementation of sustainable development requires a consensus-based decision-making process involving all the parties concerned.

The FOI believes that the environmental infrastructure has lagged behind economic growth and a distinct infrastructural deficit is evident in a number of areas, with waste management being the most acute. Current institutional structures will not deliver the required infrastructure in a timely manner.

As regards waste management, the federation feels that the only solutions applicable to Malta are land reclamation for construction and development waste, and a waste-to-energy plant for most of the remaining waste.