Residents in Żebbuġ, Gozo, are claiming the waste they separate is being repeatedly mixed into one garbage truck. They even have a video showing workers dumping all the separated waste into one garbage truck to prove their point. 

But the waste collection contractor says this only happens because the garbage is dumped in skips, already mixed.

The residents deny that they do not separate the waste appropriately and the mayor says the local council will act to stop the “illegality”.

The issue has risen in Ħal Sagħtrija, a complex of 85 luxury residences perched on the edge of a hill overlooking Marsalforn. Residents there say they take waste separation seriously and have paid a contractor to collect their separated waste from a number of skips along the perimeter of the complex.

“Each apartment separates organic, recycling and mixed waste in separate bags, which we take out and place in separate, clearly marked skips,” one resident said. “We pay extra to be able to make use of the skips and have a private contractor collect them. But every time the garbage truck comes, the workers dump all the skips inside it.”

Video shows waste being mixed

They say they are frustrated because the situation persists despite multiple complaints to the contractor and the authorities. Video footage sent to Times of Malta shows three men working at the rear of a garbage truck. They first dump a skip full of black bags into the truck and the hydraulic machinery is seen descending on the pile of bags, pulling it back and swallowing it into the belly of the truck.

A screenshot from footage sent to Times of Malta, showing skips with black bags, recycling bags and cartons being dumped in the same garbage truck.

Two of the workers then wheel the empty skip back in its place while another worker brings forward a second skip, seemingly full of cartons. They fasten it to the back of the truck and dump it in exactly the same spot they had just dumped the black bags. Out comes the hydraulic iron slab again and pulls it all inside the belly of the truck, with the rest of the garbage. They then proceed to do the same with a skip full of what appears to be grey recycling bags.

Contractor insists it separates waste later

A spokesperson for the waste collection contractor, LTLM Ltd, admitted to mixing all the waste in one truck but said they only do it because when they arrive on site they always find the residents had already dumped recycling bags into skips designated for black bags. The contractor also sent pictures to Times of Malta, showing black bags mixed with cartons and recycling bags in one skip to prove it.

The spokesperson said each time a garbage truck drives into the recycling plant with inappropriately separated waste, Wasteserv fines the contractor €150, so there is no reason why the contractor would want to deliberately mix waste that is already appropriately separated.

There is no reason why the contractor would want to deliberately mix waste that is already appropriately separated- Contractor spokesperson

“So we’re picking it up [from Ħal Sagħtrija], taking it to our yard and separating it appropriately there,” the spokesperson said, adding that they usually do not find more than a dozen recycling bags mixed with the black bags, so the separation process is not very laborious.

"Technically speaking, this is not our problem, and to avoid further videos like the one you were sent, we are going to leave the bins full whenever we find them filled with different types of waste.”

The Ħal Sagħtrija residents’ association denied they were to blame.

“We have three skips clearly marked, and we have no interest in putting wrong bags in the wrong skips,” the association said. “Prior to speaking to Times of Malta, we spoke to the supplier several times and he denied mixing waste. Now that we have footage of this he has changed his story and is blaming us.”

LTLM Ltd also collects rubbish from the rest of Żebbuġ, but mayor Marlene Cini said the Ħal Sagħtrija skips are not administered by the council and that the residents have entered into a private agreement with the contractor. Nonetheless, she pledged to take action.

“The local council will be liaising with the administrator of the Ħal Sagħtrija residents to stop this illegality,” Cini said.