Waste not at Sant'Antnin

The controversial Sant'Antnin waste treatment plant in Marsascala yesterday opened its doors to the public to show them how waste is treated after it leaves their homes.

Michelle Spiteri, a mother of three young boys, said she visited the place to educate her sons and herself about waste treatment.

"At home we have information about recycling and we do separate waste. But I felt it was interesting to see what happens to waste after it leaves our home so that I can better explain to my children how it works," she said.

On arriving at the plant, visitors first walked through an area lined with posters and stands displaying general information about the plant and about recycling.

WasteServ staff guided members of the public through the process by which dry, recyclable waste, collected from bring-in sites and civic amenity sites, is sorted, passed through machinery that processes it for packaging and then sent to be recycled.

Children looked fascinated as hundreds of plastic containers and metal tins whizzed past them on conveyor belts that sorted and compressed them.

All this took place in the material recovery facility, the first completed phase of the plant that was launched on Saturday and that is estimated to handle 36,000 tonnes of recyclable waste every year.

WasteServ representative Josephine Chircop explained that the other section of the plant, which was closed to the public as it is expected to be up and running by the end of the year, would treat 35,000 tonnes of domestic organic waste a year.

Gas extracted from this waste would be converted into electricity which will be used to operate the plant, to heat the pool at the nearby Razzett tal-Ħbiberija or else sold to Enemalta.

Composting waste would be collected separately and, depending on its make-up, would be sold for agricultural purposes.

Ms Chircop stressed the importance of separating waste at source. "The fact that people were given the opportunity to actually see what happens to the waste after they separate it at home, encourages them to keep doing it."

The project to upgrade the plant has faced vehement opposition from a lobby group in Marsascala which argues that the site selection process was flawed. Their appeal to the European Commission to intervene has been turned down.