The Malta Ranger Unit (MRU) has filed a report with the police’s environmental protection unit (EPU) after a group of men filmed themselves illegally dumping construction waste and uploaded the video to TikTok.

Posting on Facebook, the rangers said they had reported the incident to police less than two hours after footage of the incident emerged online.

The TikTok video, which has since been deleted, shows a man taking construction waste out of the back of a van and dumping it into an area of the countryside. 

While the copy of the video shared by the rangers does not include sound, the MRU said that in the original footage, the person filming was “laughing... [while] the others emptied bag after bag with construction waste into the vegetation.”

The unit said it had received an “overwhelming” number of reports about the video but stressed it had acted soon after the video emerged online.

“Our Rangers, with vast knowledge of the Maltese topography, located the site less than 40 minutes after the TikTok video was published, went on site and documented everything”, the rangers said.

“The EPU Police also went on site and at the moment investigations are being carried out which will undoubtedly lead to a court case.”

Times of Malta understands the site of the illegal construction dumping was near Marsascala, close to where building works are taking place.

The men were identified from the license plate of the van, the rangers said, adding it was “time to utilise the tools of the law and seize their vehicles.”

Fines for illegally dumping construction waste start at €4,000 per 10 cubic metres of waste, up to a maximum of €50,000. The dumping of hazardous materials such as paint thinner, gypsum or asbestos, meanwhile, starts at €6,000.

Speaking to Times of Malta, a spokesperson for the rangers said illegal dumping was something the unit encountered “regularly”.

“It is mainly done because there is so little enforcement. The chance of being caught is so small that it outweighs the risk. This is why we’re pushing for resources for enforcement against environmental crimes,” she said.

An assortment of construction waste left at the site. Photo: MRU.

The spokesperson said those dumping waste typically did so to avoid paying disposal fees, or because they were operating illegally, noting that all vehicles carrying waste required a permit from the Environmental Resources Authority (ERA).

She stressed illegal dumping was a “big issue in Gozo” in particular because of the lack of an environmental police unit on the island, but noted the EPU in Malta was “doing as well as it can with the little resources it has.”

Calling for tougher action against those caught dumping illegally, the spokesperson said: “The government needs to send a signal that environmental crimes will be caught and lead to consequences."

This is not the first time illegal dumping has hit the headlines; in October, the MRU reported that a large volume of construction waste had been dumped at scenic Miġra l-Ferħa, a Natura 2000 site.

The waste, including cement bags and gypsum boards, was found on Sunday and is believed to have been dumped there the previous evening or night. The Rangers reported the case to Clean Malta but could not identify the perpetrators.

The rangers have become a key part of the country’s frontline defence against environmental crime, tackling everything from illegal hunting and unsanctioned construction to out-of-control bonfires

Questions were sent to the police.