The second civic amenity site opened in Mriehel yesterday, following the overwhelming success of the first one which received over 1,000 tonnes of separated waste in six months.
The Mriehel site, which at 4,447 square metres is bigger than the one in Maghtab, has been set up with the public's convenience and comfort in mind.
Touring the site yesterday, Environment Minister George Pullicino said the waste minimisation and recycling initiatives introduced by WasteServ had led to a reduction in the amount of waste entering the landfill.
Last year, the landfill received 4,000 tonnes less waste when compared to 2005, an encouraging result considering that the amount of waste generated increases at an average of three per cent each year.
Another three civic amenity sites are lined up: The one in Hal Far should open in September; construction on one in Luqa should start shortly; the one in Tal-Kus, Xewkija, has been given an outline development permit but is awaiting clearance from the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage.
All five will cost €5 million - the government is forking out 27 per cent of the cost, the remainder being covered by the EU's regional development funds.
WasteServ chief executive Vince Magri said it was always the company's dream to be able to create such sites to manage waste better and the EU funds had made this possible.
He explained that the civic amenity sites were strictly intended for the bulky refuse of households and small shops and companies, not large industries or contractors.
Each site had specific containers allocated for cardboard, glossy paper, glass, white goods, television sets, oils, wood, batteries, electronic equipment, metals, furniture, paints and the construction waste generated from small do-it-yourself home jobs, among others.
Basically, whoever wishes to get rid of such waste can drive right through the site, find the container allocated for the specific waste and dispose of it there, driving right out again. Help will be on hand.
Mr Pullicino spoke about the important role bring-in sites had to play in reducing the waste each household generated.
He appealed to local councils to install the facilities provided and warned that if they failed to choose an appropriate place, the government would be left with no choice but to place the bring-in sites in a location it deemed fit.
"It is unfair to leave residents without this service, and this attitude in turn means burdening the bring-in sites of surrounding localities," he said, while deploring the decision by the Zurrieq council to remove the bring-in sites.
On the other hand, it was sometimes the residents who were up in arms against such sites and Mr Pullicino said he was sad to note that 12 had found resistance.
"These bring-in sites are there for inert waste, which is clean, not organic waste," he said.
Having said that, awareness was increasing and Mr Pullicino found it encouraging that a survey conducted among children during the Eco School project revealed that 27 per cent of them had already started separating waste.
The two civic amenity sites are open to receive and assist the public from 7.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. all days of the week, including weekends and public holidays.
The total weight of the bulky waste disposed of last year amounted to 48,655 tonnes and WasteServ encouraged the public to bring, sort and deposit their bulky waste at these sites so as to help recover the potential resources from this waste stream.
At the Mriehel civic amenity site, WasteServ has also taken the initiative of installing renewable energy sources, which will cover half the power necessary for the site's operations over a whole year.