Target way off for waste separation, though awareness is increasing

An average of three tons of waste is being collected every month from each bring-in site scattered across the island, according to WasteServ's latest figures.

However, heartening as these figures may be, Malta still has a long way to go to meet its commitment to the EU to collect 800 tons of plastic a year, 1,100 tons of metal, 3,000 tons of glass and 9,000 tons of cardboard and paper.

"Waste separation is on the increase and the public is becoming more conscious of the need to recycle. However, Malta has committed itself to meet the targets laid down by the EU," said Christopher Ciantar, WasteServ head of strategy and development, in an interview.

"We are still far from these targets and whereas Malta, for example, is committed to collecting 800 tons of plastic by the end of this year, WasteServ has collected only about 70 tons," he explained.

"At the moment we do not have the precise figure of the amount of plastic being imported and generated in Malta. However, previous studies indicate that it is much more than our stipulated target of 800 tons. The National Statistics Office is conducting a study to try and quantify the packaging on the market," he added.

Dr Ciantar said there was a better chance of these targets being reached if industry did its share of the work.

"Industry has to set up its own schemes to attain these targets. This cannot be a government initiative because we cannot recover the amount stipulated in our targets - industry has to be involved," he insisted.

Dr Ciantar spoke at length about WasteServ's drive to create an awareness of waste separation among the public.

At the moment there were 30 bring-in sites for paper, plastic, cans and glass in Malta and 12 in Gozo, but there were still about 26 more councils which still had to adopt the scheme.

The initiative, which started in November, is registering an encouraging input from the public and each month the waste collected from the bring-in sites was on the increase.

While a mere 15,380kg of paper was collected in November, over 39,040kg was collected last month. Plastic too registered an increase and people had separated 12,780kg of material last month when compared with just 4,240kg in November.

The figures for cans and glass fluctuated - while 2,540kg of cans were taken to the bring-in sites in November, this shot up to 6,940 in April, dipped to 4,260kg in May and went up again to 6,300kg in June.

In November 6,660kg of glass was separated at source in households, reaching a peak of 22,215 in May and dropping to 15,660kg last month.

"These figures are very encouraging and a lot of people are participating, but we are having problems with a few bring-in sites, especially those in Balzan, Attard and Naxxar," Dr Ciantar said.

Some bring-in sites were becoming an eyesore as a few individuals were taking the concept of recycling a step too far and dumping geysers, a washing machine, rabbit skins, tins of paint and carpets at the foot of the bring-in sites, to the disgust of neighbours.

Waste treatment engineer Mary Grace Micallef said a person with a very vivid imagination had dumped garbage bags full of drainage.

"The actual bins are filled with the correct material, but the attitude of some individuals is only serving to put people off from separating waste. Having to clamber over the bulky refuse to dump your waste is certainly not pleasant," she said.

"While cardboard boxes can be recycled some are dumping the huge boxes at the foot of the bring-in sites, which means we have to get another truck to collect this material," she said.

Ms Micallef said people had to be more sensitive on these issues, but she was confident that with proper education campaigns the goals could be achieved.

All the material collected from the bring-in sites was being taken to the Sant'Antnin Recycling Plant in Marsascala where plastic bottles were being hand-sorted according to the type of plastic, crushed, baled and exported for recycling.

Glass was also separated, according to colour, and a local company was planning to start recycling it by mid-August. The glass collected was being stored for the time being.

Paper was separated - newspaper was shredded and used as animal bedding, white paper was recycled into toilet paper, while glossy paper was exported.

At the moment the responsibility to collect the waste from the bring-in sites, and take it to the Sant'Antnin plant, lay with WasteServ.

The government has agreed to allocate Lm1,500 a year to each local council to adopt the scheme and take on the full responsibility of the bring-in sites, their maintenance and waste collection.

"We are trying to regionalise Malta and get local councils to join forces and say, choose one contractor to collect the waste from a region of four or five localities - this would make more economic sense at the end of the day," he said.

"We are waiting for local councils to take the leap and take on the responsibility of these bring-in sites, Some are resisting it. We have to accept that we have no choice but to co-exist with these bins if we wish to reduce the waste we generate," Dr Ciantar said.