The Environment Minister got his tongue in a twist when replying to criticism about his waste recycling plans on Wednesday, telling parliament that the Opposition “does not know the ABZ of recycling”.

Jose Herrera soon corrected himself – “I meant ABC,” he told the Speaker. “ABZ is something else”.

The Freudian slip came at the tail end of a frustrated outburst by the minister, who told the House that a motion to suspend a legal notice introducing organic waste collection was the “most senseless and puerile” he had ever come across during his political career.

That motion was presented by the environment shadow minister, Jason Azzopardi and shadow minister for local councils Robert Cutajar.

At the opening of the debate, David Agius, Nationalist Party deputy leader, said preparations to introduce organic waste collection and recycling laws were a complete shambles.

The government intends to legislate to make waste recycling compulsory, with those who do not do so subject to fines. It has also started distributing small waste bins for people to keep white garbage bags intended for organic waste in.

But those plans have run into trouble, with residents in several localities made to wait in line at designated spots to receive their free bin.

The legal notice in question was also the subject of an embarrassing gaffe two weeks ago, when it was discovered that it would have to be rewritten after its initial draft left out several localities.

"Visit the Attard local council’s Facebook page, and see what’s going on," Mr Agius said.

“Wasteserv has given a locality of 10,000 people just 100 bins to distribute – and they have to do so on a first come, first served basis. It's a mess".

Mr Agius said that countless questions about the revised waste collection system remained unanswered.

“What if tourists take out the wrong rubbish bag and then keep heading to the airport?” he asked. “Who will be responsible then?”

"How will authorities pinpoint recycling culprits in blocks of flats, where several garbage bags are left for collection together?" 

The criticism irritated the Environment Minister, who told parliament that the Opposition was determined to criticise for the sake of it.

“I haven't heard a single piece of constructive criticism in 10 months,” he said.

“If it were up to them, we would just sit on our hands and do nothing.”

He accused the Opposition of wanting to retain the status quo and not introduce stricter recycling rules.

"If people haven't received their bin on time, they can use another bin until they do. Households must leave the garbage bag out for collection, not the bin itself. If you want things to remain as they are, say so," Dr Herrera charged.

Dr Azzopardi said the debate had only convinced him of the opposition motion's correctness. Inexactitudes in the "keystone" document of the government's strategy would doom the entire project to failure.

Several localities had no stated time for the collection of white bags - which the Bill was mainly intended to regulate - and other localities had missing details.

Expressing his hope that the Opposition was wrong about the legal notice, because the country needed a functioning waste management and recycling system, he pointed out that Dr Herrera would have to issue another legal notice by October 31 if the initiative were to be implemented properly. He appealed for this legal notice to follow a proper consultation with stakeholders.

Clarifying that the motion itself recognised the minister's good intentions, he dismissed the minister's earlier slip as something which "brought a smile to our faces".

Dr Azzopardi also questioned how the new regulations would be enforced without the ability to trace the household from which each refuse bag had come. Furthermore, he asked how existing contracts entered into with waste disposal contractors by local councils had been amended to ensure that separated material was not contaminated on the way to its destination. Families were still in the dark how the system would work, he said.

Earlier during the debate, MP Alex Muscat said Maltese families were already aware that recycling was necessary, and that to assert otherwise was "insulting." Penalties needed to be introduced if the goal was a cleaner Malta, and the Opposition was opposed to progress achieved towards this goal. He called for the Opposition to take a clear position on waste management.