Thermal treatment facility for clinical waste to replace Marsa incinerator

The process for a high-level plant that will replace the Marsa incinerator has started with a first tender for design and environmental studies to be issued in the coming days.

Environment minister Aaron Farrugia his vision for a completely revamped waste management infrastructure with a €50 million thermal treatment facility for clinical waste in Marsa.

The new facility will incorporate the best available technology, with a potential of green energy generation through incineration, to complement a waste-to-energy plant and organic waste plant in the coming years.

“This project will bring about a substantial leap in the quality of life. While the inconvenience of an incinerator will be removed from Marsa, the modern technology used in the new plant will ensure that the surrounding areas are not negatively impacted,” Farrugia said.

“The plant will be located in the same area as the other plants, quashing the environmental repercussions of transportation between one facility and another around the country. This is another step forward towards a circular economy environment.”

Farrugia said that until the new plant is available, WasteServ will invest in new measures to minimise the inconvenience caused by the Marsa incinerator.

He referred to a number of veterinary shortcomings identified by a European commission inspection, such as the proper storage of bone meal, improvements within the foul water treatment system, and proper labelling of incoming waste, that have been addressed.

WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca said the waste agency will engaged with private slaughterhouses and livestock farms to move away from traditional practices which have contaminated waste with plastics, which damage the plant, or dead animals delivered in an advanced state of decay.

“The improvement of the facility requires collective action, and WasteServ is determined to deliver this in the shortest possible timeframes as preparations for the construction of a new state of the art facility are in full swing and being held simultaneously,” Bilocca said.