A waste management strategy

I refer to the article entitled ‘Waste management: too little, too late?’ by Daren Cordina (November 29).

Aside from the undoubted good intentions of the author, there are several misunderstandings and assumptions that may be based on incomplete information. 

It is crucial to clarify that although waste to energy technology features prominently in our plans, this is part of a much larger strategy. 

 The ECOHIVE complex will provide holistic waste management solutions including the mentioned waste to energy plant, a material recovery facility for dry recyclables, an organic processing plant with large scale composting capabilities, a new thermal treatment facility with energy generation capabilities, a skip waste management facility, and also an innovative waste transportation system. 

These, in addition to the currently under construction multi-material recovery facility, the autoclave for animal waste (in operation for over three years), and the mechanical and biological treatment plant also in operation guarantee a reinvigorated infrastructure that will be second to none in terms of an integrated circular economy.

Equally important is the fact that infrastructure alone will not solve Malta’s waste management issues. In fact, the government is issuing a public consultation for a waste management plan 2021-2030, which will seek to transform Malta into a top EU performer in the waste management sector within the next 10 years. 

 It must be clarified that the sizing of the waste to energy plant is based on meticulous computations. Contrary to the quoted desk-based studies which are now outdated the waste arisings on which the sizing was undertaken are based on a waste characterisation exercise which has a scientific basis of a 12-month analysis.

This led us to identify the most suitable setup that offers the required operational flexibility for Malta’s specific context within an economy that yields seasonality in terms of waste reception, which factors gain even more importance when one considers the yearly long summer and holiday period peaks and the lack of land available for waste storage.

Therefore, the best possible option was to opt for a two-line plant so that when the results of the freshly announced policies are attained, and Malta reached its waste management targets – during the shoulder months if need be – one of the lines would be switched off for those low influx periods. In fact, the chosen plant is a modular one having two lines of 96ktpa each.

To put these figures into perspective, one also needs to consider that the waste fractions considered suitable for processing via the waste to energy plant totalled 234kt in 2018 which is by far more than the 114 kt/yr mentioned in the outdated data sets. 

A flexible operational set-up does not only mean that Malta will be incinerating all the waste in potential future low waste months, but in addition to the flexibility outlined above this will also give us the opportunity that any extra capacity will give extra redundancy to the Maltese waste management system and the first opportunity to start landfill mining.

This will allow the reutilisation of exiting landfill land and will convert such waste into energy in an environmentally-friendly manner. 

Also, in terms of energy efficiency considerations we need to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach, with warm climate areas being given differentiated treatment when it comes to surplus heat utilisation. Having said that, within the ECOHIVE project, we have agglomerated the proposed facilities to make best use of the surplus heat within our own processes, exceeding the performance expected by current obligations. 

Wasteserv would also like to give strong reassurances that, as the article recommends, the project has already been thoroughly reviewed by independent consultants. International leaders in the field, COWI, have scrutinised the process while also being assisted by another world-leading waste management company, SLR. Moreover, Wasteserv has also engaged Frith Resources Management to provide further assistance on the project.

This is a project of national importance and it is being handled as such. Our strategy is built on attaining EU targets and move at a steady speed towards a holistic circular economy approach. To do so, we need an exceptional infrastructural set-up, which the government is currently implementing, and a new waste management plan which will be up for public consultation as of tomorrow.

Tia Reljic – Communications Advisor, Ministry for the Environment, Santa Venera

Let’s make Għammieri farm better than its glory days

It is a well-known fact that the Għammieri farm glory days have long gone. I became interested in the place in 1998 and by 2001 I was a student there. Although it was not in same the condition as it was in my parents’ and grandparents’ days it still served as a place where one could study and observe Maltese agriculture, its diversity and history.

There were so many animals there that it was more of a zoo than a farm. Since it was mostly pesticide free, the biodiversity of wildlife in the surrounding field was remarkable and it continued to kindle my passion in pursuing my studies. There were many knowledgeable people, mostly from an agricultural background, some of whom could not spell their own name – but the expertise we gathered from them was priceless.

 It is also the place where I discovered what breeds were of local origin, and over the past two decades we documented over 15 published works on the subject describing over 130 breeds of plants and 40 breeds of animals.

During my student days I was given the opportunity to save the true Maltese rock dove through a back selective breeding programme, and long after graduation I was allowed to procreate the Maltese runt pigeon to save it from the brink of extinction. We also worked on wild rabbits, chickens, and the conservation of several important Maltese agriculture history documents.

 Even after all these years, although I never was an employee, I always remained in close contact with the place through for example the planting of vegetation and pest management.  Over the years, instead of trees and vegetables, several offices were built, and there are less and less animals.  Today there are hardly any animals except some strays and some goats and cows.

This place has given me so much and I would hate to see going to ruin like most other places related to biodiversity conservation and agricultural heritage. I have great respect for the people working there of whom I know many personally.  I believe that given the opportunity the place could be in great shape and even better than its so-called glory days.

 I really wish the best for this landmark and hope that in the next few years it will be a showcase of research and conservation, promoting the consumption of local products.

Arnold Sciberras – Paola

A poets’ corner for Malta

Commemorating the nation’s greatest heroes and benefactors is not only a right but also a duty that we should never fail to perform. 

The English could not have had a nobler thought when they decided to dedicate a corner for the great and the good in Westminster Abbey, the nation’s most famous place of worship. 

Is it not high time for us Maltese to dedicate a corner or a chapel in St John’s Co-Cathedral for the great and the good of our nation?

People such as Sir Temi Zammit, Dun Karm, Francis Ebejer, Oreste Chircop, Charles Camilleri and now Oliver Friggieri, whose contribution to their native country helped to strengthen the national identity, promote local values and consolidate the name of our island-nation among its European counterparts should have their resting place in our ‘national’ church in Valletta. 

Poets’ corner would be an umbrella term embracing various personalities, similar to the one in Westminster Abbey.  Such a move would also avoid the forking out of thousands of euros spent on monuments risking damage or vandalism caused by bandits, graffiti-markers and the weather.

Fr Geoffrey G.Attard – Victoria

Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@timesofmalta.com. Please include your full name, address and ID card number. The editor may disclose personal information to any person or entity seeking legal action on the basis of a published letter.