Black bin waste down by a third, organic and recyclable collection up: Wasteserv

Mixed waste dropped by almost a third, with both organic and recyclable waste collection rising since a major waste collection reform was introduced in 2021, Wasteserv announced on Monday.

Wasteserv CEO Richard Bilocca told press that 95.5 million kilogrammes of black bag mixed waste are now collected, down from roughly 141 million kilogrammes when the country’s Long Term Waste Management Plan was introduced in 2021.

Meanwhile, the amount of organic, compostable waste collected has risen, reaching a high of 30 million kilogrammes in 2025.

And although Wasteserv now collects less recyclable material than it once did, mainly because of the introduction of the BCRS scheme, which now shares the burden, the global amount of recyclable waste collected was higher than it ever was, Bilocca said.

Wasteserv’s data suggests that people are also getting better at separating waste at home.

Back in 2017, 41% of the contents of black bags were typically organic material, Bilocca said. This is now down to 20%, half of what it once was.

2025 also marked the first time black bags collected from commercial outlets declined, registering a slight 1.1% dip from the previous year.

Meanwhile, organic waste collection from commercial outlets has risen sharply, from just 264,000 kilogrammes in 2022 to 6.5 million kilogrammes last year.

Likewise, recyclable waste increased fourfold since 2022, from one million kilogrammes to four million last year.

In total, 412 million kilogrammes of waste were diverted away from a landfill over the past five years.

Falling short of EU landfill targets

But despite the progress, Malta remains well short of its long-term EU landfill targets, Bilocca admitted.

While historically, 95% of waste would go to landfills, this has now dropped to 70%. Wasteserv aims to drop this figure to just 10% over the next decade, in line with EU directives.

A key project in Wasteserv’s strategy to cut landfill waste received a major setback late last year, when a long-delayed tender for a waste-to-energy plant collapsed.

At the time, Wasteserv said it remained “determined to deliver” the project, but Bilocca on Monday refused to be drawn into divulging when a new tender would be issued, saying only that more information would be disclosed over the coming weeks.

Wasteserv CEO Richard Bilocca and Environment Minister Miriam Dalli on Monday. Photo: Jonathan Borg

‘Energy from waste powered 1,200 homes last year’: Miriam Dalli

Environment minister Miriam Dalli described 2025 as a particularly encouraging year for authorities’ waste collection efforts, in which “clear progress” was registered.

“Last year waste was converted to 8.5 gigawatt hours of energy, enough to power 1,200 homes for a year,” she said.

Dalli said authorities remain dedicated to not dedicating any new agricultural land to landfills, instead transforming former landfill sites into open spaces, such as in the case of Wied Fulija and Qortin in Gozo.