|
James Debono
By 2013, the Sant’Antnin recycling plant will not be able to cope with the increased load of domestic waste as Malta seeks to meet the targets envisaged in the EU’s Landfill Directive.
The government has lambasted the MLP for not naming the site of the four regional recycling plants proposed in its environmental policy, but the government has still to show how it plans to meet the targets of the EU directive.
According to the landfill directive, Malta will have to reduce the amount of domestic waste which goes to the landfill. By 2008 the island will have to reduce biodegradable waste which is land-filled to 75 per cent of the amount produced in 1995. By 2013 it will have to reduce it to 50 per cent of the amount produced in 1995. This amounts to 40,000 tonnes of domestic waste, a bare fraction of the 150,000 tonnes of domestic waste which is currently land-filled.
According to a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Environment and Rural Affairs the Sant Antnin Plant will be treating 35,000 tonnes of organic waste and a percentage of organic packaging like cardboard and paper.
This will only be able to meet “the earlier targets of the Landfill Directive,” the spokesperson said.
In order to meet the later targets of the directive, the government is still finalising the Solid Waste Management Strategy for the Maltese Islands. According to the ministry’s spokesperson this document will be issued for public consultation shortly.
But the ministry has been repeating this promise for the past year. The committee entrusted to revise the strategy was appointed in January 2005 and was expected to deliver its report by March 2005. More than a year has passed since the expiry of this deadline.
This document is expected to propose waste-to-energy solutions aimed at reducing the amount of waste which is land-filled.
An ongoing information campaign by Wasteserv focusing on waste minimisation and waste separation is also aimed at reducing the waste going to landfill.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
|
