Anyone caught incorrectly separating their waste will be fined €25 from October, with fines doubling for repeat offenders, the environmental regulator announced on Tuesday. 

Fines will be tripled for businesses that flout waste separation rules, at €75 for first-time offenders and €150 for subsequent breaches. 

The fines will be enforced through two legal notices published on Tuesday in the Government Gazette, following a public consultation held by the Environment and Resources Authority last November.

While the legal notices establishes an April 14, 2023 starting date for the new regulations, there will be a six-month grace period to allow residents and businesses to get used to the change. 

During that six-month period, anyone caught in breach of the rules will receive a warning. 

The revised rules also introduce a minimum fine of €400 for anyone caught dumping a "minimal" amount of garbage. No definition of "minimal" is provided. 

ERA said that its officials would be carrying out “continuous inspections in all localities” to ensure waste separation rules are obeyed by all. 

Malta lags far behind the EU-set waste separation targets and is the EU state to send the largest proportion of its municipal waste (90%) to landfill. The EU has given the country until 2035 to dramatically reduce that figure to just 10%. 

What are the waste separation rules?

Waste separation schedules were reformed at the start of the year and made uniform nationwide. 

Now, only one type of waste is collected each day: 

1. Monday: Organic
2. Tuesday: Black bag
3. Wednesday: Organic
4. Thursday: Recyclable materials (metal, plastic, paper and cardboard)
5. Friday: Organic  
6. Saturday: Black bag

Glass is collected separately, every first and third Friday of the month. 

ERA officers will be empowered to issue warnings or fines if they catch residents or businesses disposing of organic waste, recyclable waste or mixed waste in the incorrect bag. 

They will also be empowered to enforce sanctions if they catch users disposing of glass in recycling or mixed bag waste. 

Aside from relying on door-to-door waste collection, residents can dispose of recyclable waste at bring-in sites across the country or Wasteserv civic amenity sites. 

Bulky waste can be disposed of by contacting your respective local council, which operates a free bulky refuse scheme in collaboration with Wasteserv.