Jose Herrera, Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change

Waste management should take a holistic approach, which takes on board all key players in this field, from policymakers to waste collectors, and making sure that everyone is conveying the same message. It should not be seen as the government’s sole responsibility and should neither be tackled in a vacuum. It should also be stressed that every sector and every citizen should do their part to manage waste more sustainably and recycle whatever waste could not be avoided or reused. Thus, there is the need for stricter enforcement and participation of all stakeholders.

Every 10 years, 50 tumoli of land would be needed for land filling if we do not increase our efforts and continue to throw away waste at the present rate. Malta can ill afford this unsustainable luxury due to land constraints. This should put more pressure on each one of us to do our bit and reduce the waste we produce and source separate the waste we generate. The proposed waste to energy project, planned to start operating by 2023, will treat 40 per cent of waste being land filled. 

Malta has EU waste recycling targets that need to be reached. Missing on these targets does not only mean that as a country we are faced with fines but also that we are missing on economic and environmental opportunities as well as failing to turn waste into a resource.

Although the recycling rates have gone up, we are still falling significantly behind the set targets. Continuous education complimented by the introduction of the Circular Economy Act, will further improve these percentages. This new legislation is currently being drafted and will soon be published for public consultation. It will focus on reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill by making recycling compulsory and as a result improve the current recycling rates.  This is being considered as one of the greatest local reforms in waste management.

The proposed waste to energy project will treat 40 per cent of waste being land filled

In a bid to reduce the amount of plastic polluting the environment, the beverage container refund scheme, which will be issued for public consultation, will direct more plastic bottles placed on the market to recycling. This system will see consumers eligible for a small refund for each plastic bottle they return. This measure will encourage waste separation of a valuable resource and drastically increase both the collection and the quality of recyclables placed on the market.

Thanks to the investment in new plants, mainly the Tal-Kus Waste Transfer Station & Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and the Malta North Mechanical Biological Treatment Plant, Wasteserv managed to extract more resources from waste which previously went straight to landfill. As a result of the unfortunate incident in May of last year, when a fire completely destroyed the MRF at Sant’ Antnin, Wasteserv faced a tougher challenge to process all the recyclable waste collected. 

 Since the Malta North facility was not designed to process dry recyclables it had to be adapted to separate this type of waste. Plans are in place to set-up a new MRF. Another initiative that will increase recycling is the nationwide extension by the end of this year of the project for the collection of organic waste. Presently 23 localities are participating in this project. The separate management of organic waste leads to the production of renewable energy, reduces odours emanating from landfill and consumes less landfill space. 

The information campaigns about how each and every one of us can contribute to sustainable waste management have never ceased but grew stronger throughout the past years. The outreach programmes in schools, entities, and events have been ongoing in parallel with other educational campaigns such as Don’t Waste Waste and Iġbor u Irbaħ.

Despite the fact that there is always room for development in this sector, it is worth noting that all of the above initiatives have brought about a marked improvement in people’s attitude and behaviour, and future initiatives that this government will be embarking on will continue to build on this success.

Mark Anthony Sammut, PN executive president and candidate

Plenty has been said about the need to review our waste management strategies both on a national level but also at local council level. It is high time action is taken in the right direction following the footsteps of the National Waste Management Strategy 2014-2020. Malta’s wider waste management plan recognises the need to meet a series of targets not least to reduce the generation of waste and increase source separation so as to promote recycling and reduce landfilling. Malta is obliged to recycle 50 per cent of paper, plastics, metal and glass waste from households by 2020; landfill only 35 per cent (based on 2002 levels) of biodegradable municipal waste; recover 70 per cent of construction and demolition waste by 2020 and collect 65 per cent of the average weight of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the national markets by 2021.

If we take municipal waste, mainly waste generated by households, including waste from sources such as shops, offices and other institutions, the real situation is a far cry from obtaining the above targets. Latest Eurostat figures show that in 2016 the Maltese generated 150kgs of waste per capita above the EU average. The pity is that only 20,000 tonnes from a staggering 283,000 tonnes of waste generated were recycled. The landfilling rate in Malta is more than 92 per cent. These figures show that as a country we have failed to take the right actions to reduce waste generation, reuse or recycle it.

Contracts should be issued on a rationality basis and for a longer period

In 2014, the Labour government had promised to take bold steps to reduce the dependency on the only engineered landfill at Għallis. Malta’s Waste Management Plan for the Maltese islands published in 2014 says that “an out of sight, out of mind approach can only lead to a more expensive waste management system and one where the cost of inaction is high”. It is exactly what has happened. Labour are now going to construct an incinerator over 5,000 square metres at Magħtab that will handle 114,000 tonnes or 40 per cent of waste generated per annum. The decision follows the commissioning of a study by former environment minister Leo Brincat, who in 2009 had criticised the Nationalist administration that “reliance on incineration is proof of the failure of the waste strategy so far, compounded with the desperate need to come up with renewable energy to make up for time lost in meeting targets”.

This government is proving that it wasn’t able to walk the talk on what it preached nine to 10 years ago. The only solution the government is offering is to spend €150 million to construct a large incinerator to burn all sort of waste. The message out there is that all efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle will go down in vain.

What we really need to ensure a healthy environment for future generations is to continue to reduce waste, reuse and recycle the resource. The most important thing is that everyone acknowledges his or her civic duty to separate waste at source. This with separation at home will immediately increase the amount of recycled waste being collected from each and every locality. We also have to think outside the box and incentivise citizens to increase recycling habits. 

The waste management sector must also be helped to ensure long-term sustainability and provide services with the best available technologies at the lowest of cost. At local council level, for example, we require a strong basis for changes to waste collection. First and foremost we need to change waste collection contracts. In order to ensure economies of scale, contracts should be issued on a rationality basis and for a longer period. How can a waste carrier invest in a refuse collection vehicle if they are awarded a three- to four-year contract only? Secondly, introducing organic waste separation is a good step forward. But how come biodegradable bags for this scheme have been out-of-stock at councils involved in this pilot project for the past five months? How can citizens be encouraged and incentivised to participate if they are not being provided the means to?

If you would like to put any questions to the two parties in Parliament send an e-mail marked clearly Question Time to editor@timesofmalta.com.