More than half a million cubic metres of rock are to be excavated from Magħtab in preparation to build a complex of waste treatment plants. 

A tender for the rock excavation works at the ECOHIVE complex has been issued, Wasteserv said on Friday. Bidders will be expected to remove around 530,000 cubic metres of rock in nine months and the contract is estimated to be worth more than €10 million. 

Bidders will be judged on price, with the cheapest bid which satisfies technical and administrative criteria to be awarded the contract. 

The tender document also includes a geological report including information on the type of rock present.

Bids can be submitted until 9.30am on July 28. 

The ECOHIVE project will see Wasteserv build four separate waste treatment plants in Magħtab, replacing existing facilities and ending Malta’s decades-long reliance on landfills as the primary means of disposing of waste. 

The heart of the complex will be a waste-to-energy plant, with other facilities focused on treating organic, recyclable and abattoir waste. 
 
In its statement announcing the excavation tender, Wasteserv said it would also be issuing another tender to build vertical walls and specialised liners at the site.