The major problems we face today are not only scientific problems, but also ones of communication. Waste management is a very obvious and high-priority issue, yet the rudimentary understanding of the topic that everyone should have is indeed lacking. I hope to help highlight the key issues and challenges we face as well as the fundamental reasons as to why we should be so concerned.
Waste management is a problem that no one can be detached from, especially in the local scenario where most of the waste we bring about is virtually bound to stay here (at least for a while). Due to economic growth, we have seen a spike in waste generation over the past decade, and although waste does have economic value and can be useful for particular industries, Malta is not yet fully capable of disposing of or even perhaps using this waste in the most efficient way possible.
Not yet having the technical capacity to do so, we have resorted to exporting some of the waste we produce.
Having the ability to export our waste may sound simple; however, this waste must be correctly managed at all stages. There are several Waste Shipment Regulations (WSR) that must be abided by.
Malta, under EU legislation, is obliged to submit a waste management plan and a waste prevention plan; we will look at these in further depth and discuss the main points highlighted in these proposed plans for the period 2014-2020.
One article is by no means enough to explain all the principles enlisted in the Plan. However, I will try to give a brief overview of the important factors.
Although most references are about the local context, sustainable waste management and the waste hierarchy are two important concepts that must be mentioned.
Managing waste in a sustainable manner allows for less impact on the environment (e.g. loss of resources and land take-up for landfilling) and to do this we must move up the waste hierarchy.
The waste hierarchy is the order of priority of actions to be taken to reduce the amount of waste generated and to improve waste management practices. In fact one of the key challenges mentioned in the Waste Management Plan is indeed to move up the waste hierarchy, with waste prevention being preferable and landfilling being the least desired option.
Statistics in 2017 by the NSO show that 90 per cent of our municipal waste was still going to the landfills, a very disconcerting percentage. Considering that national policy is said to be set in accordance to the waste hierarchy, this statistic may be surprising.
Causing the least possible environmental impacts with regards to waste management and ensuring that the polluter-pays principle is incorporated in all waste management procedures are two other principles that should, or rather, are said to influence national policy in this regard.
However, seeing that waste generated per capita increased from 586kg in 2016 to 617kg in 2017, one cannot help but wonder if this is really the case.
This is very worrying, especially considering that out of the 293,557 tonnes of municipal waste generated in 2017, only 21,117 tonnes were recycled, a poor statistic indeed. The difference in municipal waste generated between 2013 and 2017 is that of almost 50,000 tonnes, the latter obviously being the increased number, yet recycling between the two years only increased by less than 1,000 tonnes.
Another key challenge that was mentioned in this plan is that of breaking the link between economic growth and waste generation
The Waste Management Plan is meant to serve till 2020, and with only a year to go, I wonder if we will fall further behind or perhaps start to realise that we must collectively make a holistic effort to steer things around.
Another key challenge mentioned in this plan is that of breaking the link between economic growth and waste generation. Waste generated from construction and demolition may to some extent be an indicator of a booming economy, but not every rise in figures may have a positive connotation.
Mineral waste from construction and demolition is progressively rising, definitely not a matter for celebration. However, to say the least, more of this mineral waste is being backfilled in quarries. According to the Commission Decision 2011/753/EU backfilling is defined as follows: “‘Backfilling’ means a recovery operation where suitable waste is used for reclamation purposes in excavated areas or for engineering purposes in landscaping and where the waste is a substitute for non-waste materials”.
If such additional waste generated for the purpose of economic growth is dealt with accordingly, then it only makes sense to let the economy prosper as is. However, we must first apply ourselves and deal with the coming consequences effectively before we give them the opportunity to arise.
In this regard, with the option of backfilling together with recycling construction and demolition waste, Malta should be able to achieve its 2020 target of recovering 70 per cent inert construction and demolition waste.
Last but not least I would like to explain the polluter pays principle. The principle (PPP) is legally established in the EU in Article 191(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
In accordance to the polluter-pays principle, it is stated that the costs of waste management shall be borne by the original waste producer, current waste holder or previous waste holder. A waste producer is defined as “anyone whose activities produce waste (original waste producer) or anyone who carries out pre-processing, mixing or other operations resulting in a change in the nature or composition of this waste”; whereas a waste holder is defined as “the waste producer or the natural or legal person who is in possession of the waste”.
There is obviously much more to be explained. However, these are some basic principles that we must try our best to adhere to, such as the waste hierarchy.
It is important to realise that our individual efforts are important and choosing waste-free alternatives is the way forward. Now that we know how little of our waste is recycled, the least we could do is produce less of it.
Francesca Grillo is a student with a special interest in environment and ecology issues.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece