Updated 8pm with ministry's reply

Waste regulations enacted last month are riddled with mistakes and must be repealed to avoid plunging thousands of households into chaos, the Nationalist Party said on Tuesday afternoon.

The call was made at a news conference held after the Opposition tabled a motion to repeal Legal Notice 296, which was published by the Environment Ministry on September 20.

The legal notice was introduced ahead of the launch of nationwide collection of white bag organic waste from households, which is set to begin at the end of October.

Last week, The Sunday Times of Malta reported that most localities were exempted from the white bag collection roster, even though the scheme will be introduced across all Malta and Gozo. The oversight was even more embarrassing as the same ministry is mounting an aggressive campaign to raise awareness about these changes, which seek to increase the volume of domestic waste being recycled.

PN deputy leader David Agius described the regulations as testament to a government with no serious plan on recycling and the environment.

Environment shadow minister Jason Azzopardi, who tabled the motion together with Opposition whip Robert Cutajar, remarked that these regulations were testament to the Environment Ministry’s “gross incompetence and neglect”.

While noting that this legal notice will have to be drafted from scratch, he said that such blunder is symptomatic of “a government on autopilot”.

“It is evident that the minister did not even read the legal notice before its publication,” Dr Azzopardi remarked.

The regulations are part of the government's drive to introduce organic waste recycling. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Moreover, the PN motion notes that the regulations do not cater for the collection of glass items from a number of localities and fails to specify what kind of objects residents are allowed to send for recycling.

“Are Pyrex containers considered glass or not?” Dr Azzopardi asked. He also criticised the law, saying collection times in certain localities did not make sense as residents would not have enough time to take out garbage bags before heading to work.

He cited the example of Ħamrun, where collection will start at 11.30am. Rules only allow people to leave garbage bags for up to four hours, meaning anyone leaving home before 7.30am in Ħamrun would be penalised.  

On his part, PN whip Robert Cutajar remarked that only 10 localities in Malta are listed as providing the white bag collection service according to the legal notice. He added that these regulations exposed government’s lack of confidence in local councils, as even minor decisions like the types of bins to be used in public places will be taken by the central government.

Mr Cutajar questioned why plans to have barcoded waste bags had been shelved, saying this would have made enforcement easier as the offenders could be traced.

The Opposition is now seeking to repeal this legal notice, saying that failure to do so before the end of October would result in complete chaos at local council level and to residents. Instead, the PN wants the government to publish fresh regulations, but only after a wide public consultation exercise.

“Correcting the mistakes is not enough. The government needs to draft it from scratch, in order to meet the objectives on which we are in agreement and have councils on board,” Dr Azzopardi said.

Ministry's reply

Ir-regolamenti ġodda dwar il-rimi ta' skart b'mod illegali huma pass pożittiv għal #Malta aktar nadifa. Hija ħasra u ta' tħassib li @PNMalta jadotta attitudni negattiva anka f'regolamenti li ser iwasslu f'inqas skart mormi b'mod abbużiv mingħajr ma joffri proposti konkreti.

— José Herrera (@JoseHerreraMP) October 2, 2018

In a statement, the Environment Ministry referred to the replies given to Times of Malta, saying the initiative was trying to foster an environmentally conscious culture.

“The Opposition is intentionally ignoring the government’s initiatives with local councils,” the ministry said. “Environment Minister Jose Herrera has even addressed a plenary session of the Local Councils’ Association,” it added.