Three of four sites proposed by Magħtab farmers for a new waste-to-energy plant feature garigue, which is protected under EU law, Wasteserv said on Tuesday. It said one of the mentioned plots was also home to a number of old endemic trees.
The state agency was reacting to farmers who stand to lose agricultural land to make way for a massive waste management project in the area, which has been dubbed Ecohive.
Wasteserv has submitted an application for an outline development permit to build a waste-to-energy plant in Magħtab, which is expected to cost up to €190 million to build and a further €200 million to operate over two decades.
Farmers say Wasteserv's plans would ruin their livelihood and destroy the area. A group of 25 of them have also filed a judicial protest, saying the plans breach their rights and warning the government to not take land off them.
The project footprint was massively reduced following a protest by farmers.
In its statement, Wasteserv said that land with garigue was protected under the Habitats Directive and had to be safeguarded for its ecological significance.
A fourth alternative site proposed by farmers was on the Żwejra landfill and therefore not suitable for heavy plant development, Wasteserv said.
The government has already rejected the farmers' proposals.
The Ecohive project in Magħtab will feature different waste treatment facilities: a waste-to-energy plant, an organic processing plant, a thermal treatment facility and a water treatment facility.
All these had to be located next to each other, Wasteserv said.
These plants will rely on common output streams to reach optimal efficiency and transform as much waste as possible into resources. Wasteserv described the plan as a "comprehensive strategy with all plants having complementary functions."
The infrastructure required for cooling and power grid connection was another important element in site selection and locating the plants sporadically as proposed would imply further land uptake in supporting facilities and roadworks.
Furthermore, the facilities could not be built on existing landfills for various engineering reasons. These include the depth of the said landfills and the absolute necessity to preserve the liners of the landfills. Failure to do so would result in serious environmental repercussions.
Existing landfill area may be used for a skip management facility and a waste storage amenity, which are both light structures.
Further studies were now required for this to be carried out, saving 35,000m2 of agricultural land.
Wasteserv said that the Ecohive project was being fast-tracked, and that should the plants be delayed then "there would be no other option but to expropriate further land."
Preparatory work on the waste-to-energy plant was already at an advanced stage, resulting in the submission of a detailed outline development permit in December 2019 and in the launch of the procurement process last week.