Bulky refuse disposal centres, better known as civic amenity sites, are morphing into junkyards, with heaps of white goods and electronic waste left to accumulate haphazardly.

Though the matter has already been flagged various times, it seems like the situation has continued to worsen.

Manned by state agency Wasteserv, these facilities have been in operation for more than a decade as part of a drive to encourage households to dispose of their unwanted wares in an orderly fashion, without putting additional strain on the Magħtab landfill.

Moreover, the goods deposited at the sites located in Mrieħel, Ħal Far, Luqa, Magħtab, Ta’ Qali and Tal-Kus in Gozo, are sent for recycling either locally or abroad.

Read: 565 tonnes of goods piling up at civic amenity sites

The facilities are supposed to be equipped with 16- to 20-foot containers allocated for different kinds of objects like wood, batteries, construction waste, electronic equipment, white goods, paper and garden waste.

Over the years this site has degenerated

Users wanting to dispose of their bulky items would drive through the civic amenity site and deposit the item, according to the specific container which should be clearly marked. 

Times of Malta was recently alerted about the “alarming” situation at Magħtab.

“Over the years this site has degenerated to the point that you can barely drive through it, due to the heaps of white goods and other objects scattered all over the place,” a Times of Malta reader complained.

Furthermore, it was pointed out that none of the containers were visibly marked, thus creating even more confusion among users on where they should de-posit their unwanted items.

The sorry state of affairs was further corroborated when the newspaper visited the site, which looked anything but cared for.

Besides Magħtab, the newspaper also visited Mrieħel, where it was also evident that the facility had run out of space. Once again, there were no clear signs guiding the public where to deposit waste, while no instructions were being given at the entrance to make up for this shortcoming.

The only civic amenity site visited, which was arguably run in an organised manner was the one in Ta’ Qali, although this, too, was filled to capacity.

Last year, a Wasteserv spokesman had insisted the situation was under control, while claiming the overfilled facilities were a testament to an increase in environmental awareness by conscientious citizens.

Questions sent to Wasteserv remained unanswered by the time of writing.