News • 20 July 2003

Zammit Dimech’s waste strategy goes west

Delays in waste separation and facilities explained

Julian Manduca

The much vaunted waste management strategy prepared under former minister responsible for waste Francis Zammit Dimech is not living up to its reputation as deadlines are missed and plans are sidelined.

In 2001 Francis Zammit Dimech was proudly announcing that Malta finally had a professionally prepared strategy for waste, comprising 56 measures and actions that would solve Malta’s waste management problems.

It has long become clear that the replacement for Malta’s hospital waste treatment equipment, meant to be in place by the end of last year, will be in place about one year late, if certain complications are resolved.

The announcement that Malta will have three landfill sites rather than one, is a major deviation from the strategy, and has caused a rumpus also because the decision on the sites was made without prior consultation.

Malta is meant to separate its waste on a national level by the end of 2004, but now, according to waste management officials that target date has been pushed back two years.

Malta was meant to upgrade its composting plant and set up a materials recovery facility by the end of this year. Already that commitment has gone with the wind and the Project Description Statement for the new temporary landfills clearly states that funding for these will only be in place between 2004 and 2006.

Dr Zammit Dimech was very proud to distribute copies of Malta’s strategy at the trade fair of 2001, but he kept quiet about the progress made in its implementation. Civil society and environment NGOs were left out of the picture despite a commitment to involve them at every stage of the process.

Among the commitments that the strategy envisaged by end 2002 were:

• The introduction of a deposit/refund systems for selected potentially hazardous and or recyclable products

• The reduction or removal of any unnecessary economic or other barriers to the export of recycled products and materials

• The establishment of waste oils recovery/recycling facility

• The establishment of a national waste management information system

MaltaToday contacted minister Ninu Zammit who has stepped into Francis Zammit Dimech’s slippery shoes for his comments on the deadlines missed and to be missed, and WasteServ’s CEO Vince Magri explained why the targets for waste separation at source and the related facilities have been postponed.

"Separate waste collection initiatives which are on going shall be expanded and extended over the coming months to further increase the quantities of biodegradable waste for composting thus increasing compost quality and reducing the quantities of biodegradable waste going to landfill.

"The present composting plant shall be upgraded with the assistance of the EU post accession funding; the upgraded plant shall also include a Materials Recovery Facility for the recovery of recyclables."

Magri said that the MRF is not expected to be put to use immediately: "It may be appreciated that this plant shall be inactive for a considerable period during the upgrading stage. As it will be difficult to sustain the extensive composting activity during this interruption in the operation of the plant, we are focusing more on the recycling of other separately collected recyclables and the separation of waste at the industrial sector.

"It is for this reason that there has been a delay to extend waste separation initiatives nationwide. Incidentally, EU Funds for the latter are also available during the 2004 to 2006 period." julian@maltamag.com