Malta has registered a 30% increase in waste recycling between 2020 and 2021, Wasteserv said.

It said in a statement that last year Malta recycled 15% of the country’s waste, an increase of five percentage points over the previous 12 months.

This confirmed how Malta was reversing the stagnant trends defining this sector for numerous years, it said, adding that this was even more significant when one considered that the long-term investment in waste management infrastructure was still in its initial phases of implementation.

This positive trend is expected to be maintained in 2022 and 2023, Wasteserv said.

It said that, despite this improvement, a nationwide cultural shift is necessary to reach Malta’s mandatory EU targets.

This green transition was also essential for the general well-being of residents in Malta both in terms of health and overall standard of living.

"Past polluting waste management practices are no longer an option and Malta needs to decrease landfilling from the current 85% to 10% by 2035.

"Such a significant reduction is very challenging but WasteServ is confident that the country can achieve it with the investments being made and the combined efforts of the public and the commercial sector."

Wasteserv said it is now confirmed that the aggressive strategy changes and short-term investments it implemented yielded the anticipated positive spikes in performance, and more improvements are expected later in the year as a new fully automated €4 million recycling facility enters operation.

These short-term improvements will be drastically ameliorated with the €500 million Ecohive Project that is currently under construction, it said.

Wasteserv however noted that infrastructure alone will not yield the required mandatory targets and the implementation of Malta’s 10-year waste management plan that includes mandatory waste separation for both households and the commercial sector.

For this reason,it encouraged households and businesses to intensify their commitment to reducing waste to landfill, by actively reducing, reusing and recycling.

"Separating our waste correctly, choosing items with less packaging and repairing items instead of throwing them away are some of the ways how everyone can contribute to reducing waste," it said.