Sant'Antnin plant upgrading

The 1996 report being referred to by the Front Against the Recycling Plant in the letter The Future Of The Marsascala Plant (March 15) does not make any reference to the demolition of the plant. The report states that structural maintenance, worth Lm75,000, is clearly required. By no stretch of the imagination does this mean that the plant should be removed completely or even demolished.

The report is divided into two studies. The first one focuses on the structural stability and the second on the upgrading of the plant and equipment itself. The arguments of the Front conveniently focus on the study of the structure of the Sant'Antnin facility but fail to mention anything on the need to upgrade the plant.

The Front should note that a substantial amount of the maintenance work proposed in this 1996 report has already been carried out, so much so that since 1997, in the last eight years, the throughput at the facility has peaked to a maximum. The study suggests an investment of Lm75,000 for remedial works, which will improve the condition of the existing plant.

Now WasteServ, through EU funds, will be investing Lm7.2 million (€16.7 million) to improve the current situation radically. Surely, the Lm75,000 suggested in the report do not justify the relocation on the basis that the whole plant must be demolished for structural defects.

There is no need for "beating about the bush" since it is clear that the proposed upgrading will lead to a radical improvement of the existing facility. The planned upgrading of the Sant'Antnin facility shall ensure the improvement of the operational and environmental conditions of this site as most of the works will be conducted in a closed environment.

The proposed upgrading of the Sant'Antnin plant includes the installation of a materials recovery facility (MRF) capable of sorting 36,000 tonnes of separately collected recyclables per annum, a digestion plant that will treat 35,000 tonnes of organic material and a modular composting plant that will produce compost following the digesting process. Once the upgrading is complete, 71,000 tonnes will be treated at the plant even though at the moment the plant is licensed for a capacity of 80,000 tonnes per annum.

Design details are currently being formulated to take account of the mitigation measures proposed in the ongoing environmental impact assessment. Every effort is being made to utilise the existing infrastructure to the maximum.

WasteServ is well aware that the current composting process has been a nuisance to the residents living close by.

However, once upgraded, the facility will achieve three main objectives. Firstly, a drastic reduction of odours since it will be operating in a closed environment as opposed to the current semi-open air systems, secondly, the production of good quality compost and, finally, the recovery of energy sufficient to supply about 1,400 homes with their annual electricity demand.