Encouraging a recycling culture this Christmas

As Christmas approaches, the amounts of packaging waste we produce become more evident. Overflowing dustbins and extra bags of waste are a common sight in the streets at this time.

The festive season is a time when we are bound to create more waste - whether through eating, drinking or giving presents. The holiday period, in particular, should be yet another reminder of the urgent need to change both our attitudes towards waste and the way we manage it.

With its ongoing educational campaign, WasteServ Malta Ltd is aiming to bring about more awareness about the amount of waste generated while also providing information on how to use waste as a resource.

The main sources of extra waste at Christmas are packaging, glass bottles, drinking cans, Christmas cards and disposable items. With some extra effort and creativity much of this Christmas waste, which is conveniently considered as rubbish, can be reduced, reused and recycled instead.

Even in the frantic rush of Christmas shopping, a clear concern for the environment is required. Careful consideration during the purchase of gifts will reduce the amount of useless packaging material or unusable products that end up in the wastebasket before Christmas day is over.

Buying durable items or opting for gift vouchers can be a good start to a new shopping attitude. Gifts can promote lifestyle changes friendly to the environment.

For example: cloth napkins and matching tablecloth, cloth or string shopping bags, a compost bin, lunch box, reusable or bio-degradable picnic plates, cups and utensils, recycling bins or stationery made from recycled paper.

New year waste resolution

Less waste production is a worthwhile goal for the coming new year for Malta and for each one of us. In the coming year we will continue facing the challenge of managing our waste in a sustainable way.

Recognising that waste is a resource, we need to gain much more value from the waste we produce, while managing it in an environmentally responsible waste. The key to this, besides curbing the increase in waste generation itself, will be to substantially increase the level of recycling.

In its efforts to encourage a waste separation and recycling culture, WasteServ Malta Ltd has taken the initiative to introduce bring-in sites. These are recycling facilities, which consist of four containers where the public can dispose of clean, recyclable materials. The containers are colour coded: blue for plastic, brown for glass, black for metal and white for paper.

All one has to do at the bring-in sites is to separate the waste in the respective containers. No other waste should be left outside.

Once the recyclable waste is collected from the bring-in sites it is taken to the Sant'Antnin plant, where it is further sorted and directed for recycling. None of the recyclable material goes to waste.

There are currently 24 bring-in sites and by the end of the first quarter of the year there will be a bring-in site in every locality in Malta and Gozo.

We are also faced with the need to take on a new year's waste resolution. The authorities and local councils need to provide more recycling facilities, industry needs to invest more in waste management and recycling, while householders can also do their bit by reducing waste and directing waste towards recycling through proper use of the bring-in sites.

This is a resolution for all individuals to inform themselves, shoulder responsibility and eliminate the 'not my problem' attitude. More information about the location of bring-in sites can be obtained by calling on freephone 8007-2200 or contacting your local council.