Each person in Malta generated an average of 642 kilos of waste 1.75kgs a day - up 3.4 per cent compared to 2015.

Recent Eurostat data indicates this was the second-highest level of waste generation in the EU that year, exceeded only by Denmark, and far above the European average of 480 kilos per capita.

Based on data furnished by WasteServ and the Environment and Resources Authority, figures released by the National Statistics Office show that landfilled waste dropped by more than 10,000 tonnes compared to 2015 but still amounted to 92 per cent of treated waste.

The composition of waste destined for landfills, however, changed when the Malta North Mechanical-Biological Treatment plant came on stream. This resulted in a decrease in municipal waste and a corresponding increase in rejects from mechanical treatment of waste.

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According to the NSO, 282,709 tonnes of municipal waste were generated in 2016, up by more than 13,000 tonnes over 2015.

13,000 tonnes more waste in 2016 than 2015

Mixed municipal waste comprised nearly two-thirds of the waste generated. Bulky waste, another mixed waste stream, made up 15.4 per cent, an increase of about a third over 2015.

Recycling increased slightly, from 6.9 to 7.6 per cent, with paper and cardboard accounting for more than half of the total, followed by metals.

Environment Minister José Herrera has stressed the need to minimise the use of landfills, describing them as “environmentally abhorrent”.

Without alternative measures, he said, Malta would soon be using the equivalent of two football fields of land every year to store waste. Plans have been announced for a new waste-to-energy plant, expected to handle about 40 per cent of waste, the rest being managed through alternative waste streams.