Volume of recycled waste collected by GreenPak increased by 25%

Figures released in Parliament earlier this week showed that exports of recycled waste seem to be droppin.

Greenpak have however said that “Wasteserv is responsible for managing recycled waste, not collecting it.”

The company issued a statement in response to media reports saying recycling has dropped to 6,658 tonnes between January and November 2017, just half the amount handled in the whole of 2016.

GreenPak is entrusted with collecting recycled waste and a good portion of this is then sent to the treatment facilities of Wasteserv, a government entity.

In fact, the volume of recycled waste collected by GreenPak last year has actually increased by 25% over 2016.

GreenPak CEO Mario Schembri pointed out that last year the cooperative had recovered 22,136 tonnes of waste, registering a 25% increase over the 17,650 tonnes collected in 2016.

Reacting to the figures released in Parliament, Schembri believed that the drop in Wasteserv’s exportation figures could be a consequence of the large fire that engulfed most of the Sant’ Antnin waste treatment plant last year.

 “It was particularly encouraging to note that in 2017 we collected 3,378 tonnes of plastic waste resulting in a nine per cent increase over 2016. This means we have managed to recover the equivalent of 57% of the plastic packaging our business partners put on the market,” Schembri said.

Wasteserv, he said, was now operating from smaller plant, which meant it took longer to export bigger stockpiles.

 “I’m not alarmed by the rate of recycling in Malta. As a country there has been a marked improvement in people’s attitudes and behaviour, even though we could be moving at a quicker rate,” Schembri said.

“As GreenPak we are committed to protecting the environment and we welcome Environment Minister Jose Herrera’s recent announcement that the government is working on new laws to make recycling compulsory,” he added.