Since 1995, local councils have been responsible for waste management in their locality. A time span of 27 years. It has been a remarkable journey and, despite ups and downs, there was never a single day when the service was not provided in any local council.
The business community, represented by authorised Schemes, GreenMt and GreenPak Coop, were part of this journey since March 2010. Prior to that, the business community funded the collection of recyclables collection door-to-door in a smaller number of local councils since July 2009. And before that the ‘Recycle Tuesday’ initiative was introduced by the government in April 2008.
All of this took long hours of consultation with many stakeholders, mainly the Department of Local Government, MEPA, local councils, the Chamber of SMEs, the waste carriers, and WasteServ Malta Ltd.
Consultations were also held with different strata of society. The administration of the day met with workers, university students, housewives, shift workers, educators and pensioners. I vividly remember these meetings, a long process which eventually brought about ‘The Recycling Tuesday’ initiative.
The business community, together with stakeholders and mainly the goodwill of each local council, brought about the change. The introduction of the collection of the grey or green bag door-to-door became the order of the day. Eventually, glass collection was also included in the schedule paid for by the business community.
The business community led by Schemes, Green Mt and GreenPak Coop entered into individual agreements with local councils every two years. Once again, local councils played a major part in these agreements and every council made different demands, which included the provision of free recycle bags, bring-in sites, CCTVs and environmental clean-up educational campaigns. Local councils stood their ground and negotiations were never easy, but we always came to terms eventually.
It has been a remarkable journey- Joe Attard
Later, the government led by WasteServ Malta Ltd introduced the collection of the organic bag, again after a long consultation process.
Over the last few years, the collection of organic waste from door-to-door increased considerably but, once again, the leading stakeholder, local councils, played an important role by encouraging households to separate waste at source.
The business community applauds local councils and their residents for driving changes in waste management. We cannot forget to mention the bulky refuse collection which for many years has been the responsibility of councils, and this was handled very well.
It has been a remarkable journey, one which gave me the opportunity to meet so many mayors, executive secretaries, councillors, waste carriers, authorities and their representatives at so many ministries. I must also mention the events we held at so many schools andmeetings with heads of schools and school principals who supported us and the local councils in waste separation.
As Schemes, GreenMt, we thank you all for being a part of this journey. You have all stood with us over the past 13 years.
But, as they say, time has a way of setting parameters for change and with the introduction of regional councils in 2019, a change is now on the horizon. Waste management will be the responsibility of regional councils by end of 2022. The business community represented by Schemes, GreenMt and GreenPak Coop, was looking forward to consultations and eventual agreement on the way forward. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
The government decided otherwise, and while as always the door for discussion remained open, Schemes had to file a request for a warrant of prohibitory injunction after the government, through the Ministry for Local Councils, issued a call for services based on six regional tenders. The warrant of prohibitory injunction was upheld provisionally. After a due hearing, the courts decided in favour of the government.
A new journey started on August 23. That was the closing date for bidders to submit their offers for the provision of collection of mixed waste, organic waste and recyclable waste from six regions as established at law.
The tender document in each region also left an option for regional councils to cater for collections from recycling points and commercial entities.
Once again, we thank local councils and residents across Malta and Gozo for being part of this journey, and we do hope that somehow this journey will improve through regional councils with the support of all stakeholders through proper consultations at all times.
Joe Attard is CEO of Green Mt.