According to a recent Eurostat survey, in 2016 Malta ranked second in generating the highest amount of municipal waste, with each person producing over 600 kilos of waste every year. To give it context imagine two football pitches filled with waste each year.

With only two years to go before Magħtab reaches its full capacity, we don’t need further proof that as a nation and as individuals we need to redouble our efforts to reduce our waste footprint.

As part of its ongoing efforts to raise more awareness on the need to manage waste in a more sustainable manner, the national communications campaign – ‘Don’t Waste Waste’ – together with the Environment Ministry, Wasteserv and the ERA – continues to organise and hold information seminars in collaboration with local councils, daycare centres and scout groups from several localities on good waste management practices.

During these events a waste expert from Green Pak, an expert on waste, carries out engaging talks covering topics like waste separation at home, hazardous waste, food waste, organic waste and its pilot project and home composting, offering useful tips and techniques.

Attendees are encouraged to participate and answer questions put forward by the waste expert about how different items of waste should be disposed of, clarifying any incorrect answers along the way. He also encourages the audience to ask questions to help clarify any misconceptions, with the most common ones being about the disposal of electronic goods and medicine, the disposal of waste in the black bag when instead it should be recycled, the improper use of bring-in-sites and the collection of glass.

Audiences are encouraged to take part through interactive and engaging sessions which include competitions and quizzes.

So far, feedback has been incredibly positive with high attendance rates and a very engaged audience keen to improve on their waste separation habits.

In an effort to capture as wide an audience as possible, these seminars are also organised for a much wider audience reached through TV programme Xarabank too. The campaign also targets public and popular locations like Valletta and Sliema with an information stand set up to answer queries and hand out useful branded merchandise such as leaflets, pens and note pads.

For more details log on to http://dontwastewaste.gov.mt .