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Kurt Sansone meets up with WasteServ CEO Vince Magri to
discuss the proposed composting facility at Marsaskala
Kurt Sansone
Hailing from Zabbar and with relatives living in Marsaskala, WasteServ Chief Executive Officer Vince Magri has every intention of delivering a top-notch facility when the present Sant Antnin recycling plant in Marsaskala is replaced with a modern composting facility.
He understands the concerns of Marsaskala residents. “They are my concerns as well,” he says when I meet him at WasteServ’s offices in Santa Venera.
Magri says Sant Antnin was chosen for the new composting and materials recovery facility after other sites were studied. “The studies showed that Sant Antnin was the most advantageous site from those selected by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority,” Magri says. He explains that the consultant’s report on the suitability of other sites was given to the local councils and eventually MEPA approved Sant Antnin as the ideal place for the new facility.
Reacting to arguments made by Marsaskala residents that since the Sant Antnin facility is to be demolished to make way for another plant it should be completely moved to another place, Magri insists that it is yet unclear what existing structures will be retained.
“There will be structures that will be demolished but it is up to the new contractor to decide what building to keep. That is how the word ‘demolition’ came into the planning application alongside ‘upgrading’. I cannot say that everything will be removed or which parts will be demolished. The tender document has not yet been drawn up. It should be ready by end March after the consultation process is over and all concerns raised will be included in the conditions attached to it,” Magri says.
He also disputes arguments that the new facility will be treating 200,000 tonnes of waste. “That is not true. Although the Waste Management Strategy tells us that we are supposed to treat 200,000 tonnes of waste at Sant Antnin, such an amount would yield more compost than the country’s requirements. We reviewed the strategy and estimates showed us that the country only requires 15,000 tonnes of compost. To produce that amount of compost we have to treat 35,000 tonnes of organic waste.
“Then there is the fraction of waste that is being recovered from the bring-in sites which needs to be prepared for export or local manufacture. Today that waste is spread out in the open and our personnel manually select the different materials. The system is not efficient and unhealthy for employees.
“Abroad there are material recovery facilities (MRFs) where waste is transferred utilising conveyer belts. We calculate that around 36,000 tonnes of such waste will be treated at Sant Antnin bringing the total amount of waste entering Sant Antnin to 71,000 tonnes.”
It is not Magri’s competence to give any political guarantees that no more than 71,000 tonnes of waste will be treated at Sant Antnin but he insists that the designs being contemplated and the money made available only cater for 71,000 tonnes of waste.
The proposed facility is to include a digester, a machine that reduces organic waste to compost, producing water and gas as by-products. Given Government’s intention to bring forward the plans for turning waste into energy, Marsaskala residents fear that once the new facility starts functioning it will eventually be converted into a bigger waste-to-energy facility – probably an incinerator.
Magri shakes his head in disapproval. “The money we have today is enough to purchase a digester that will treat 35,000 tonnes. To increase the production capacity of the plant as regards waste-to-energy conversion, much more money would be required and obviously more space. I cannot tell you what can happen in 10 years’ time but the plans we are preparing today and the money we have today, cater for a digester that processes 35,000 tonnes.”
Magri insists that organic waste, which represents the most problematic fraction of Malta’s waste, will be treated in a closed system and hence both the stench and airborne bacteria will be reduced considerably. “What we are proposing is an improvement of the current facility. The digester will also produce a better quality compost that makes it easier to treat at later stages, reducing the stench,” he says.
As for the possible danger poised by the storage of gas produced by the digester, Magri says the equipment has not yet been purchased. “We have not drawn up the tender document but we will make sure to include this particular concern as one of the conditions so any prospective supplier will have to give us guarantees on the safety of the system,” Magri says.
The WasteServ CEO says that local councils can appoint their own experts to help WasteServ draft the tender conditions. “I can guarantee that all concerns raised by residents will be addressed,” Magri tells me.
As for the increased volume of traffic that will be passing through Marsaskala and other localities in the vicinity, Magri argues the impact would be negligible.
“There is a misconception. If 200,000 tonnes of waste were to be transferred to Marsaskala, traffic would increase by around three per cent. With only 71,000 tonnes being transferred to Marsaskala the impact of traffic is expected to be much less,” he says.
Magri argues that with 70 per cent of funds coming from the European Union, WasteServ will have an additional watchdog looking over its head. He also sees no problem if local councils appointed their experts to the monitoring board once the plant starts operating.
“This is not a question of operating badly and things cannot simply go on unnoticed. If there are problems the plant will stop functioning and we will be caught out. The Prime Minister lives just metres away from the facility. WasteServ has every intention of improving things at Sant Antnin,” Magri says.
The tender document for the new facility is expected to be concluded by the end of March after which it will be published on an EU-wide basis. WasteServ plans on having a new facility operating in Marsaskala by 2007.
“It is obvious that people will not want a waste facility in their backyard. But the difference today, as opposed to the changes that occurred in the past, is that there is a substantial investment being made, which will improve things,” Magri says.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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