Construction industry told to replace old machinery with €4 million grant

Malta Enterprise grant will lead to scrapping of older vehicles and equipment that are less efficient and environmentally unsustainable

€4 million construction industry regeneration scheme to open on the 10th of December Malta Enterprise will fork out €4 million in grants for the replacement of old machinery within the construction industry. 

The Construction Industry Scheme is allocated under Malta’s Regeneration Budget, to encourage operators in the construction industry to scrap and replace old machinery with new equipment that generates less emissions and reduces harmful emissions. 

Energy ministry Miriam Dalli said this one measure will lead to the scrapping of a substantial number of older vehicles and equipment that are not only less efficient but also environmentally unsustainable. 

“This scheme includes increased aid intensity for hybrid and electric-powered equipment,” she said. 

“It’s only with such synergies that we can really foster future growth. This is a brand of economic growth that we are consciously choosing, and which will not only reap economic benefits but will also protect our environment and our country for the next generations.” 

In principle, the scrapped equipment and that purchased must provide the same functionality, however Malta Enterprise may yet consider the replacement with equipment that performs a different function as long as the new equipment has similar engine size capacity and results in a reasonable reduction in CO2 emissions based on a typical annual usage. 

Malta Enterprise CEO Kurt Farrugia said Malta Enterprise’s new focus will be not just to regenerate the economy, but also in regard to fostering more sustainable business operations.  

“Apart from the immediate help via the wage supplement, our focus on regenerating the economy meant that we had to employ new measures. We have recently launched schemes including the Business Re-engineering and Transformation Scheme that will support our businesses to stop and think on how they want to future-proof their operations; we will also soon start to disburse the grants under the COVID support scheme for Electricity and Rent. 

“In all our endeavours, however, we put sustainability on the forefront as indicated via the recently launched Energy Efficiency scheme, and this Construction Industry scheme. This particular scheme is the result of discussions with the MDA which supported the aims of helping its members decrease harmful emissions.”