Updated 2.24pm with comments from green NGOs
Plastic bags and other waste from Magħtab landfill has been filmed blowing towards the sea and into surrounding natural land.
On Thursday morning, Times of Malta videographer Jonathan Borg captured a large amount of plastic bags blown off the site by Force 7 winds.
Some of it was caught in surrounding garigue, others ended up in the boughs of trees while others were carried towards the Mediterranean sea.
Scientists say plastic can take more than 400 years to decompose and is incredibly damaging to sea life. It can also end up in the food chain as microplastic is eaten by plankton, which are eaten by fish, which end up on our plates.
The Meteorological Office issued an orange weather warning for Thursday, urging caution for the very strong winds that are set to reach gale force at times throughout the day. Winds are blowing south to southeast at Force 7 to Force 8, becoming strong south to southwesterly and then veering towards a moderate to a rather strong northwest overnight.
The weather warning is valid until 7.30 pm on Thursday.
In January the Planning Authority approved plans to build a €160 million waste-to-energy plant which is set to be able to process 40 per cent of all of Malta’s waste.
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
When the government first announced the project in 2019, it estimated that the site would be up and running by 2023. Dubbed the ECOHIVE Complex, the site will also include a new recycling facility and an organic processing plant.
A report by the National Audit Office found that in 2019, Malta was recycling just one per cent of its plastic waste, with the majority, 58 per cent, ending up in the landfill.
According to its long-term waste management plans, Malta aims to recycle at least 55 per cent of household waste by 2025, which goes up to 60 per cent by 2030 and up to 65 per cent by 2035.
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
Photo: Jonathan Borg
“Malta has a very poor waste management track record. Not only are we failing to meet our EU targets, we are not even managing the Magħtab Waste 'Management' Site properly,” Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar co-ordinator Astrid Vella told Times of Malta.
“Although Magħtab is thought of as 'just a rubbish dump' in fact it covers a site of ecological importance and abuts a Bronze Age burial site, with the highly-scheduled Victoria Lines nearby, all of which will be affected.”
She added that fact that waste was not being properly contained has very serious implications, she continued, as the area between Gozo and il-Qaliet is a highly protected marine zone.
“Allowing dust and plastic waste to blow into the sea has enormous negative implications for marine life, even beyond our shores. Running turtle protection programmes and then allowing this to happen is deplorable.”
A spokesperson for Moviment Graffitti said that when the government had launched its long term waste management plan the NGO had raised concern that these plans might not be sufficient due to a lack of preparation.
“Unfortunately, it seems that we were right,” she said. “While we understand the economic realities behind waste management, we wish to stress that it is also important to remember the economical, social and human costs behind the destruction of nature through the production of waste, like what we have seen today. This alone should suffice to justify the much-needed change in waste management.”