Imported plastic bottles an environmental disaster - Sant

Opposition Leader Alfred Sant yesterday said the government had accepted an EU proposal for soft drinks to be imported in plastic bottles, a development which would spell disaster for the environment.

Dr Sant told a press conference that as a result, Malta would have an "invasion" of plastic bottles which, unlike glass bottles, could not be recycled.

He said that according to MLP estimates, Malta imported more than 12 million glass bottles, of which 11 million were used for soft drinks. There were some 55 million glass bottles in the country.

Speaking against a background of 2,000 plastic bottles at Ta' Qali, Dr Sant said this meant Malta would have between 44 and 55 million plastic bottles to dispose of, an amount which would cover the whole of Ta' Qali within three years.

For such bottles to be burnt, Malta would need to spend heavily on the necessary equipment in a process which would be an added burden on taxpayers. This process also produced harmful toxic fumes.

Dr Sant said these findings were in sharp contrast to claims that EU membership would be good for Malta's environment. He expressed surprise that environment organisations had not protested on this point.

He said that in terms of the MLP's proposal for a partnership with the EU, soft drinks would continue to be imported in glass bottles.

The Nationalist Party in a reaction, described the press conference, and the fact that it was held against the backdrop of plastic bottles, as a gimmick. This was as much a gimmick as when Dr Sant, then Prime Minister, took a helicopter ride over the Maghtab site and did nothing else about it, PN information secretary Gordon Pisani said.

He said that after accession, Malta was not obliged to produce soft drinks in plastic bottles. It was not true that soft drinks and beers could not continue to be sold in glass bottles as was the case today, and it was not true that plastic bottles would continue to be dumped at Maghtab.

The government had bound itself to give incentives for the collection of plastic and other materials for recycling, he said.