Updated 5.10pm, adds Wasteserv statement

Glass bottles in cardboard boxes and plastic bags lined the streets on Friday morning, despite new rules requiring households to use reusable plastic bins.

Joe Attard, chief executive of waste scheme operators GreenMT, confirmed most people ignored the regulations that came into force this month.

"Our initial feedback shows clearly that participation using the WasteServ bin or a plastic container was minimal across our local councils," he said. "Residents still opted for carton boxes and in instances still plastic bags."

Contractors complained of a "lack of cooperation" by the public and he said if the system continues, "much more education is needed at this stage.” 

Last month waste management company WasteServ announced that, from September 1, reusable bins must be used to dispose of glass.

WasteServ said this was to “ensure high quality while maximising the reuse potential of the recycling material.”

Previously cardboard boxes or plastic bags were accepted for collection on the first Friday of the month. But this was to change today, the first Friday of September, when people were to use the brown WasteServ-supplied container or their own reusable one.

A rare sighting of a reusable bin for glass bottles on Friday morning. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The public had reacted to WasteServ's announcement about the new glass collection method with various concerns that ranged from worries about their bins being stolen, to fears about them being contaminated with coronavirus once outside their homes.

Mayors of various localities said they were concerned that a new system for the collection of domestic glass waste was being introduced too abruptly and might backfire - with people opting not to recycle. 

And those who ignored the rules, don't seem to have been punished - with householders reporting that the cardboard boxes and bags of bottles were collected as usual.

Wasteserv statement

In a statement on Friday, Wasteserv said that no changes to the current system or any new obligations had been introduced. Standards that had long been in place and which are intended to ensure that glass is collected in an uncontaminated manner so that it can be recycled were merely being enforced.

It said that the Local Councils Association together with WasteServ observed that the glass collected on Friday was not contaminated as was the case in previous times.

However, the amount received was lower than usual, and contrary to what was expected, an amount of glass - predominantly in cardboard boxes - was left on the streets.

Without prejudice, WasteServ and the association will be collecting this remaining glass to ensure that there was no inconvenience to the public and that glass is recycled. At the same time work with the GreenPak and GreenMT will be intensified to ensure that the service that is expected of them is delivered. 

In the meantime, educational campaigns to continue improving Malta’s environmental performance will continue, it said.