Incineration or similar waste management technology is “inevitable”, according to recycling experts.
Joe Attard and Mario Schembri, CEOs of rival waste separation firms GreenMT and GreenPak, respectively, told the Times of Malta that the country’s waste management crisis had gone “too far” to avoid the introduction of an incinerator or alternative technology.
“Yes, at this point, this will have to be done. The situation cannot be overturned.
“Landfilling cannot continue at this rate, and therefore, alternatives have to be introduced,” Mr Attard said.
Mr Schembri said that though incineration or equivalent alternatives were inevitable, a lot could be done to drastically diminish the amount of waste handled.
“People need to recycle, recycle, recycle. And then they need to recycle more,” he said.
The Times of Malta reported last week that the government was reviewing various alternatives to incineration, as landfills were expected to reach full capacity within the next two years.
Government sources said that the alternatives being studied included ways of “turning waste to energy”, such as cutting-edge thermal heating technology.
Another, less-plausible option suggested to the government was a €160-million plan to have a floating incinerator several kilometres off the coast, other industry sources said.
However, this was not deemed desirable for various reasons.
Maltese homes produce 25 per cent more garbage than national estimates predicted.
The island is now ranked sixth among the EU countries that generate the most waste per inhabitant.
And a new report shows that a staggering 136,523 tonnes of black bags containing domestic waste are handled every year, well in excess of the 109,000 tonnes mentioned by the authorities.
The island is now ranked sixth among the EU countries that generate the most waste per inhabitant. Nearly 90% of all rubbish is sent to landfills, with just eight per cent being recycled.
While Mr Attard and Mr Schembri are in agreement that recycling and waste separation should not be abandoned, they have different opinions on how it should be managed.
Mr Attard said he believed the government had to make waste separation and recycling mandatory if it were to be a success.
“This is the only way to make sure people at home and businesses will do what needs to be done. Unless it is mandatory, and subject to some sort of fine or penalty, a lot of people will keep ignoring the environment.”
Mr Attard said he believed the government had to make waste separation and recycling mandatory if it were to be a success
Mr Schembri says a lot has already been achieved and feels fines are not the answer.
“You do things like recycling because it is your civic duty. You don’t need a law to tell you what is decent and what is needed for a better country for all,” he said.
The engineer said that in the localities where his company was managing waste separation pro-jects, recycling had increased by about 20 per cent.
“A lot can be done. After all, everyone wants to live in a cleaner environment,” Mr Schembri said.
That was not all the two disagreed on.
Mr Attard said Malta was still miles away from meeting its 2020 targets on landfilling.
“By 2020, which is around the corner, we should have halved the amount of garbage we were landfilling in 1995. This won’t happen,” he said.
Mr Schembri adopted a more positive attitude, saying Malta had reached 45 per cent recycling, a significant increase from the roughly 26 per cent at the start of the previous legislature.
With increased education and outreach, he was confident the goals would be reached.