Waste incineration vs separation

I read with immense interest Mr Andreas Reiff's letter about waste management (The Sunday Times, August 14).

In Malta we are still at the very beginning of waste separation which has already gone grossly wrong. There are, to date, around 40 waste separation bring-in sites and each one is in a desperate situation.

The mounting waste around the bins is unbelievable. If WasteServ cannot cope with 40 bring-in sites, what will the situation be with 400, the target number of locations for separation bins? This situation has come about as we try to separate around five per cent of the municipal waste produced. What would the situation be if 50 per cent of the waste were to be separated using the bring-in sites?

Unfortunately waste separation has no chance of being successful in Malta. When it comes to the environment, most Maltese cannot be bothered. When their waste is collected from their doorstep that is the end of it - out of sight, out of mind.

Looking at the three reasons Mr Reiff gave against waste separation make a lot of sense: waste separation does not make financial sense; recycling uses up to three times as much energy; and waste separation is not supported by the consumer.

Why does WasteServ overlook reasons like these and still embark on this very expensive exercise of waste separation that clearly is not working?

Waste separation has not made any sort of impact on the amount of waste that is being dumped at Ta' Zwejra, in Maghtab (no, Maghtab is not closed). WasteServ are now on their third mountain and these mountains are being created within months.

Millions of liri have been spent on waste management in the last eight years and the situation is even worse now. Who has benefited? Certainly not the residents of Maghtab or the environment.

With today's technology incineration not only gets rid of 90 per cent of municipal waste, but also generates electricity for a good number of households. With today's oil price at $66 a barrel, the savings are enormous.

Incineration will nearly eliminate the need to landfill. Besides harming the environment, landfills takes up large areas of land, create an eyesore, are a health hazard and have depreciated the value of properties around them. Not to mention destroying the Salina Coast Road which was one of the most scenic areas in Malta.

One day common sense will prevail, hopefully sooner rather than later, before more land is wasted and more rubbish mountains are created to be inherited by our children.