There was only 6,658 tonnes of material recycled between January and November 2017, almost half the 11,538 tonnes handled in the whole of 2016.

Replying to a parliamentary question by MP Marthese Portelli, Environment Minister Jose Herrera gave no reason for the drop.

The totals in tonnes of recycled plastic, metal and paper for the years between 2012 and 2017 were:

2012 – 10,500
2013 – 10,591
2014 – 10,509
2015 – 9,547
2016 – 11,538
2017 – 6,658*

*January to November

Recycling remains an unpopular habit in Malta, with only 6.7 per cent of waste being reused in 2015, despite the stress placed on better management.

The government announced last year that recycling would be made compulsory under new waste separation laws currently being drafted. The Circular Economy Act will require people to separate recyclable, organic and waste streams.

Read: Recycling to be made compulsory - Environment Minister

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.