Junior College student Jordan Magri was awarded first place for this article submitted for the 2018-9 Litter Less Campaign 15- to 18-year category, which formed part of the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) Competition.
In Malta, obligatory organic waste collection from households was introduced on October 31, 2018. Our islands’ limited size places huge constraints on planning and sustainable land management. So recycling of organic waste is being done so that less waste is landfilled in Malta’s only engineered landfill at Għallis. This will also generate by-products such as compost and methane.
Rising quality of life and more economic/spending power in the hands of people will result in more people eating out at restaurants and this will generate more organic and recyclable waste.
For this investigation, the author focused on seven restaurants near the Junior College, Msida, and the college canteen, which lie within the catchment of Msida Valley, thus run-off water could carry litter in streets to the sea. Take-aways were avoided – because food and packaging waste cannot be traced by such enterprises once they leave the premises. The aim was to investigate the opinion and efforts, if any, of restaurant owners, in relation to organic waste collection, given the fact that up to now such commercial enterprises are still not obliged by law to do so.
The investigation also sought to determine if restaurants are taking initiatives to reduce the waste they generate, and to assess the level of awareness, among such businesses, about the importance of reducing waste. The survey revealed that all restaurants already separate their recyclables and organic waste even though the latter is not enforced.
Plastic waste is the most common type of recycling waste generated. Throughout the EU, plastic plates and cutlery are one step closer to being banned. None of the restaurants sampled said they do not have time to recycle or do not have storage space for the waste. This shows they are likely co-operate once obligatory waste collection from restaurants starts. Kitchens in restaurants generate large quantities of organic waste which must not be put in the black bags that go to landfills but in the white bags that go for composting.
All restaurants already separate their recyclables and organic waste even though the latter is not enforced
Most of the restaurants except for one said they have been contacted by the government and were informed about the organic waste separation for domestic places. It was only the college canteen that had not been contacted – probably because it falls under the Education Ministry’s remit.
Most of the organic waste was generated during food preparation; the next was from leftovers. Knowing at what stage food waste is generated could help minimise its generation. In fact, most restaurants have already adopted waste reduction measures, with 75 per cent offering clients the possibility of taking leftover food. But this is a double-edged sword as this also generates packaging waste.
Other waste reduction measures included:
a) replacing single-use plastic straws with bamboo straws or completely eliminating them;
b) offering beverages from draught. This is beneficial because less cans or bottles are thrown out with the waste;
c) changing from straws and plastic cups to glass or multi-use plastic cups.
All the restaurants sampled reported that they take out both organic waste bags and recyclable bags, but only two of the eight restaurants take out glass separately. The others do not take out glass separately because glass is not used that much. Two of the restaurants take the organic/recyclable/glass waste home for recycling.
In conclusion, the survey showed that there is awareness among the restaurant owners interviewed about the importance of waste separation and reduction. There is also voluntary participation of such restaurants in the scheme as they still separate the waste and currently make use of the domestic waste collection.
What must be addressed now is the issue of official collection of waste from restaurants as this would address the need to collect waste especially at weekends when domestic organic waste collection is not available.
An official from the Directorate for the Environment and Climate Change responsible for organic waste collection said that small establishments should use the domestic service of the locality it is operating in and that the ministry is formulating a plan to facilitate waste collection, particularly from food establishments.
Generally speaking, these restaurants are doing a satisfactory job in sorting their trash and introducing measures that will have a less negative impact on the environment. However, the government/Wasteserv must do their part in helping the restaurants to recycle and collect organic waste.
Litter that is not collected and contained properly would end up in the streets and inevitably be carried down to the sea (unless street cleaners mange to clean the litter on time). Msida is close to the sea and there are already many challenges as it is a yacht marina. By encouraging restaurants and citizens to be responsible in generating less waste and collecting waste responsibly, we are not only reducing landfill space, but also reducing marine litter.
YRE is an international programme run by the Foundation for Environmental Education represented locally by Nature Trust – FEE Malta. For more information visit the websites below.
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