A group of volunteers collected over 200 bags of plastic waste from Magħtab in a four-hour period on Friday, after strong gale force winds blew waste from the landfill earlier this week. 

On Thursday, large amounts of plastic waste and debris from Magħtab landfill were blown off-site by strong winds. Some of that waste ended up caught in surrounding garigue, with the remaining carried towards the Mediterranean sea. 

WasteServ blamed the situation on a lack of waste separation by the public.

By Friday, a group of volunteers was out in the surrounding area, trying to minimise the damage caused. 

“It felt like we were in a scene of an apocalyptic movie,” Mark Galea Pace, who organised the clean-up, told Times of Malta. 

Four truckloads of rubbish collected in four hours on Friday. Photo: Mark Galea Pace

The clean-up had been planned to mark Earth Day, which was celebrated on Friday. It took on added significance after the strong winds blew additional waste out of the landfill this week. 

“Originally, I planned for the clean-up to be for 60 Pokerstar employees, one of my main sponsors, but witnessing the tragical disaster that took place on Thursday, I called for other Maltese people to join our clean up,” Galea Pace said. 

In all, 70 volunteers grabbed a pair of gloves and bags and did their part to collect as much plastic waste as they could from the coastline. 

A majority of the volunteers were foreigners who work with the betting company, he said, with a group of students also joining. Among them was Malta's youngest-ever parliamentarian, 18-year-old Eve Borg Bonello. 

Volunteers spent Friday afternoon collecting and cleaning up Magħtab and surrounding coastline, one volunteer being Malta's youngest MP, Eve Borg Bonello (right). Photos: Mark Galea Pace

Galea Pace said seeing all the waste brought him close to tears. 

“It’s sickening when you see how much plastic there was. You might not notice it when you are seeing it from afar, but when you are walking through the fields it’s horrible, you just see hundreds of plastic bags stuck on the bushes and cactus,” he said. 

Government action 'not enough'

He said it was "disappointing" to see a lack of action from the government following the events on Thursday. 

On Friday, environment minister Miriam Dalli took to Facebook to thank WasteServ, Park Malta and Cleansing and Maintenance Division workers for cleaning the surrounding areas of Magħtab. 

Yet, Galea Pace thought it was not enough. 

"I can accept that what happened was a mistake and something which we must all shoulder responsibility for. But I would have expected an army of cleaners, if not the army itself, to have come together to collect as much plastic as possible."

By the end of the clean-up, Galea Pace and the rest of the volunteers had collected 230 bags of plastic waste - enough to fill four trucks.

"The least politicians can do is praise the work volunteers do. These people spend so much time and money trying to do their bit to make our world a better place," he said. 

"We need to show people that it is cool to be clean and that we should take on the responsibility to clean up, not just after ourselves, but others."