Several sites for a waste-to-energy plant have been earmarked, and once a decision is made an application will be submitted by WasteServ to the environment and planning watchdogs.

Environment Minister José Herrera confirmed to the Times of Malta that the ministry was studying different sites. He would not elaborate on how many were being considered nor where the sites were located, noting they still had to go through the “normal environmental assessment”.

A technical committee tasked with picking the best technology for the plant was appointed in September. Chaired by WasteServ CEO Tonio Montebello, the team had until the end of 2017 to submit its report.

The study “needs its final touches” but is “basically ready”, Dr Herrera said, adding an announcement on the equipment to be used would be made in the coming weeks. The final decision would be made by the government; the ministry would issue the necessary calls once the study was finalised, he said.

When announcing the setting up of the technical committee last year, Dr Herrera said the waste management plant would cost about €150 million and would take about seven years to complete.

He said the plant would be small compared to those in other EU Member States and would most likely not be an incinerator in the conventional sense, noting that “technology has come a long way.”

The waste-to-energy plant is expected to handle about 40 per cent of waste, the rest being managed through various measures including alternative waste streams.

Speaking at the launch of a campaign to make Malta clean yesterday, Dr Herrera said the use of landfills had to be minimised, since they were “environmentally abhorrent”.

Landfills gobbled up precious space and were bursting at the seams, he noted.

If a waste-to-energy plant was not built soon, Dr Herrera said, the country would have to start using the equivalent of two football fields of land every year to accommodate the waste it generated.