The sobriety of the announcement suggested nothing humorous about it but Malta's first waste separation-at-source scheme should kick off on April 1.
On April Fool's Day, in fact, rubbish trucks will be making a special collection for tin, plastic and paper. The scheme, which follows a three-year-long process of discussion involving the government, local councils and the industry will run on a trial basis, financed by the government until June to the tune of some €250,000 (Lm107,325).
Special bags will be available from local councils free of charge as of mid-March for people to have enough time to fill them up by the time the special collection starts. The collection for recyclable material will be made weekly, on a Tuesday in Malta and on a Monday in Gozo, over and above the present ones for regular trash, which will continue as usual.
Special arrangements will be made for businesses.
People will be expected to place tin, paper, cartons and plastic in their waste-separation bags but they can still keep using the bring-in-sites, where glass is exclusively collected.
The material will then be separated again mechanically at the recently-inaugurated Sant'Antnin plant in Marsascala.
Following a rather turbulent and long-winded process, Environment Minister George Pullicino said yesterday the scheme was an important milestone that crowns a plan which started three years ago with the introduction of eco taxes.
The scheme will be largely financed by the private sector. The fees that businesses will pay for the collection of their waste will exempt them from the eco tax but that money will, in turn, pay to finance the scheme.
Questioned on this point, the Parliamentary Secretary at Finance Ministry, Tonio Fenech said the money local councils already allocated for waste collection along with the fees from businesses should cover the cost of the scheme.
Michael Cohen, president of the Local Councils' Association, who is the Labour mayor of Kalkara, attested to the lengthy but thorough consultation process that brought on board the government, local councils and the private sector.
It is a rarity to see PN ministers nod approvingly at what a Labour official says but that is what happened at the press conference when he commented favourably on the system. "I cannot see why any local council should stay out of it," he said when asked whether he thought councils would subscribe.
A collateral benefit of the scheme is that the tender conditions for collectors of all types of waste will be more stringent while placing quality before price, something specifically requested by the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU.
The new contracts will give waste collectors a secure income for a longer period of time but will also be more demanding in terms of the sort of trucks that are used, their state of hygiene and even the protective clothing the workers will be expected to wear.
"We're going to expect them to invest in new equipment and in the improvement of their service," Mr Fenech said.