'Garbage crisis' enforcement to be ramped up with new officers

The public cleansing department is in discussions to introduce compliance officers tasked with reining in illegal waste in tourist hotspots, according to Parliamentary Secretary Glenn Bedingfield.

The development comes amid a renewed focus on rubbish left in the streets, as a Labour MP and the mayor of Swieqi separately called for action to address a “garbage crisis” in their respective localities.

Speaking to Times of Malta, Bedingfield said discussions were “already under way to deploy compliance officers in hotspot areas to ensure waste regulations are respected and enforced effectively.

“At this stage, what we truly need is a stronger presence on the ground,” he said.

Bedingfield said he was “looking forward to this next project”, which he described as “crucial given the significant amount of illegal waste being dumped on our streets”.

No further details about the initiative were available at the time of publication.

At present, enforcement of domestic waste regulations falls to the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) and Local Enforcement Systems Agency (LESA).

The parliamentary secretary was responding to questions about rubbish bags piling up in tourist hotpots, after Labour backbencher – and recent Sliema resident – Katya De Giovanni called for twice daily waste collections in the locality.

Speaking in parliament last week, De Giovanni said Sliema was amid a “garbage crisis”, with illegal refuse in the area reaching “unacceptable levels”.

“The promenade, designed for families, joggers and those who go out to relax, is now full of torn garbage bags and containers full of garbage,” she said.

“It is time to consider that during the ‘high peak’ of summer... garbage is collected twice a day or at least becomes more frequent, to take care of the needs of the locality.”

While Bedingfield acknowledged there were "challenges" with municipal waste, he rebuffed the suggestion that tourist hotspots were amid a crisis. 

Rubbish bags left outside on incorrect days have long plagued tourist hotspots however, prompting complaints from residents and demands for action from local representatives.

De Giovanni’s suggestion drew mixed reactions from local and regional council heads, while the environment ministry and authority said more frequent black bag collections risked undoing progress made in recent years.

Labour backbencher Katya De Giovanni called for more frequent collections of rubbish in Sliema amid a “garbage crisis”. Photo: Jonathan Borg

What do mayors think?

Sliema mayor John Pillow does not agree with increasing refuse collection to twice daily, warning it would encourage people to take out garbage more.

“We’ll end up with garbage always in the street,” he said.

Pillow instead suggested that rubbish be collected at night, between 11pm and 4am, and called for collection of glass and recycling to take place on the same day to ensure that discarded cardboard boxes used to place glass in were not left outside.

Stressing that twice daily collections would “not solve the problem”, Pillow called for greater enforcement of existing rules.

Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat is not convinced by the proposal either, instead favouring greater enforcement and changes to planning rules to ensure new builds include garbage storage rooms.

Describing his locality as having “exploded” with short-let rentals, Muscat stressed such accommodation offerings were the root of the problem in Swieqi, and complained the government was failing to take action.

Last weekend, Muscat wrote to the prime minister calling for “serious and effective measures” to be taken to combat a “garbage crisis” in Swieqi that had left residents “very angry”, while including some 70 photos of rubbish bags left in the streets illegally.

Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat sent some 70 photos of trash pile-ups in his locality to the prime minister, along with a letter demanding action. Photo: Noel Muscat

St Julian’s mayor Guido Dalli said while he was not against De Giovanni’s suggestion, it was only a temporary solution.

Dalli instead believes more responsibility should be borne by “very well-paid” condominium managers to ensure different types of rubbish – black bag, organic and recycling – are taken out on the correct day.

While the council was planning to expand CCTV coverage in certain areas, he stressed the effectiveness of enforcement was limited in the case of short-let accommodation: “If you fine someone, the next day someone else moves in.”

Gżira mayor Neville Chetcuti said the suggestion could be “good for all the [tourist] localities,” and could eventually be shifted to the night after 11pm.

He said the issue of rubbish featured regularly in council discussions, characterising it as “not easy” to solve. Chetcuti stressed the need for effective enforcement.

What does the region think?

Eastern Regional Council president Anthony Chircop stressed that while the region was responsible for the tender with the waste collection company, government policy decided the collection schedule – and he was open to a higher frequency.

“I know what a pressure it is in Sliema... I admit that probably more frequent collections would be useful – and in St Julian’s and Gżira too,” he said.

Calling for stricter following of existing rules, Chircop however said the current schedule was not being adhered to.

The region was “not totally happy with the service being provided” by the waste collecting company for a number of reasons.

He added that additional ad hoc collections by the public cleansing department “distorts things” and encourages irregular rubbish dumping.

‘The plan is working’

The environment ministry and the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) jointly said the collection schedule was in line with the country’s long-term waste management plan and was designed to promote waste separation.

“The plan is yielding positive results – Malta registered a 35% reduction in black bag waste since its peak in 2018,” a ministry spokesperson said, adding that last year almost 30,000 tonnes of organic waste were processed, an increase of 43% over the preceding year.

“This resulted in the generation of 7.06 GWh of renewable energy – sufficient to power 967 households in a year – and the production of 2,700 tonnes of high-quality compost for agricultural use,” she said.

She warned that increasing the frequency of black bag collections risks undoing “the positive progress Malta is collectively making”.

She noted that ERA increased its monitoring of “hot spot areas” during the summer when the incidence of black bags being taken out illegally increases.