European Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevičius welcomed the work being carried out by Malta to “break from past trends” in the waste management sector, taking the necessary steps to move toward the EU’s 2035 waste targets.
Together with Environment Minister Miriam Dalli and WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca, the Environment Commissioner toured the country’s waste management infrastructure during his visit to Malta this week.
“It is impressive to see how Malta is breaking from past trends in waste management through massive investment and courageous policy changes to move fast toward the 2035 EU targets. I am fully aware of Malta’s past struggles in this sector and I am convinced that the right strategy, if supported with a major culture shift in waste management by all players, will give the required results,” the EU Commissioner stated.
The Commissioner observed measures being taken to consolidate Malta’s waste management system through the implementation of the ECOHIVE strategy, which is based on the circular economy concept. The delegation could see the difference between the old Magħtab landfill and the ongoing work on the new strategy, highlighting Malta’s current efforts to move away from landfilling and transform waste streams into valuable resources.
Minister Miriam Dalli said that, “We are working to reverse a trend which has seen the country consistently ranked lowest across all scoreboards since joining the EU. With the strategy we embarked on, encouraging results are being seen. In fact, over the past two years, WasteServ achieved record outputs in terms of the amount of recyclables returned to the economy. This includes a significant increase in plastic recycling performance, more than tripling Malta’s previous performance.”
Additionally, impressive quick gains have also been registered in separately collected organic waste, with a solid increase of over 25% which is resulting in higher renewable energy production. Increases have been registered across all waste streams, and the industrial sector has seen exponential growth in separated waste that previously went to landfill, with wood increasing by 72% and mattresses by 600%.
Minister Miriam Dalli explained that whilst these achievements are highly encouraging, they serve as a departing point for Malta’s more ambitious targets.
Major works are currently underway to prepare the infrastructure for the future. Excavation works for the waste-to-energy plant, its bunker, and the seawater cooling pumping station are nearing completion.
On the other hand, the competitive dialogue procedure to select the technology provider and operator for the waste-to-energy facility is in its final stages. Once operational, this plant will divert over 190,000 tonnes of non-recyclable material from landfills and convert it into green energy, meeting around 4.5% of Malta’s total energy needs. The designs, tender material, and necessary studies for a new organic processing plant are almost complete and should enable Malta to have another state-of-the-art facility capable of converting 74,000 tonnes of organic waste into compost and renewable energy in the coming years.
Groundworks have also begun for a skip management facility that will divert an additional 47,000 tonnes from landfill.
WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca also highlighted how WasteServ’s employees are fully motivated to deliver Malta’s ambition in waste management and how the investment put forward by the government and recent policy upgrades are proving to be a major game changer.
Commissioner Sinkevičius also toured the rehabilitated Wied Fulija landfill, seeing how the country is not only working tirelessly towards reaching its future targets, but is also working on fixing past mistakes. Wied Fulija, once a major environmental problem in southern Malta, has now become a public park and a biodiversity hotspot, offering families a chance to enjoy nature’s beauty.
“It’s an excellent place for our nature restoration projects, to see how a landfill, dirty and polluting, was turned into a nice place where you can come, have a brisk walk and enjoy the beautiful seas surrounding Malta. This is an example of nature restoration working in practice,” the Commissioner concluded.
Progress fil-qasam tal-immaniġġjar tal-iskart f’Malta
Il-Kummissarju Ewropew għall-Ambjent, Virginijus Sinkevičius, laqa’ l-ħidma li qed twettaq Malta biex “twaqqaf dak li kien isir fil-passat” fis-settur tal-immaniġġjar tal-iskart, u twettaq il-passi meħtieġa biex tilħaq il-miri tal-UE tal-iskart għas-sena 2035.
Flimkien mal-Ministru għall-Ambjent, Miriam Dalli, u mal-Kap Eżekuttiv tal-WasteServ, Richard Bilocca, il-kummissarju Ewropew għall-ambjent segwa mill-qrib l-infrastruttura tal-immaniġġjar tal-iskart ta’ Malta waqt iż-żjara tiegħu f’Malta din il-ġimgħa.
“Huwa impressjonanti tara kif Malta qed twaqqaf dak li kien isir fil-passat fl-immaniġġjar tal-iskart permezz ta’ investiment massiċċ u tibdil kuraġġuż fil-politika ta’ dan il-qasam, biex tilħaq il-miri tal-UE għall-2035 b’ħeffa. Konxju mill-isfidi li kellha Malta f’dan is-settur u konvint li bi strateġija tajba, appoġġata minn bidla kbira fil-kultura tal-immaniġġjar tal-iskart minn kulħadd, se jinkisbu r-riżultati meħtieġa,” qal il-Kummissarju Sinkevičius.
Matul iż-żjara, il-kummissarju osserva l-miżuri li qed jittieħdu biex tissaħħaħ is-sistema tal-immaniġġjar tal-iskart permezz tal-implimentazzjoni tal-istrateġija ECOHIVE, li hija bbażata fuq il-kunċett tal-ekonomija ċirkolari. Id-delegazzjoni setgħet tara d-differenza bejn il-miżbla l-antika tal-Magħtab u l-ħidma li għaddejja fuq l-istrateġija l-ġdida, bl-isforzi attwali ta’ Malta biex titbiegħed mill-miżbliet u tittrasforma l-influssi tal-iskart f’riżorsa.
Il-Ministru Miriam Dalli qalet, “Qegħdin naħdmu biex inreġġgħu lura prattiċi li, minn meta Malta ssieħbet fl-UE, wasslu biex pajjiżna, b’mod konsistenti, ikklassifika f’livelli baxxi f’dan il-qasam. Bl-istrateġija li qed inħaddnu qed naraw riżultati inkoraġġanti. Fil-fatt, matul l-aħħar sentejn, WasteServ kisbet riżultati rekord fl-ammont ta’ skart riċiklabbli li ġew ritornati fl-ekonomija ċirkolari. Dan jinkludi żieda sinifikanti fir-riċiklaġġ tal-plastik, li żdied bi tliet darbiet meta mqabbel mal-prestazzjoni preċedenti ta’ Malta.”
Barra minn hekk, ġew reġistrati riżultati impressjonanti fl-iskart organiku li jinġabar separatament, b’żieda ta’ aktar minn 25% li qed tirriżulta fi produzzjoni ogħla ta’ enerġija rinnovabbli. Fl-istess waqt, ġew reġistrati żidiet fl-influssi kollha tal-iskart, u s-settur industrijali ra tkabbir sostanzjali fl-iskart separat li qabel kien imur fil-miżbla, fejn kien hemm żieda ta’ 72% fl-injam u żieda ta’ 600% fis-saqqijiet.
Il-Ministru Miriam Dalli spjegat li filwaqt li dawn il-kisbiet huma inkoraġġanti ħafna, xorta waħda huma biss il-punt ta’ tluq għall-miri ambizzjużi li għandha quddiemha Malta.
Bħalissa għaddejjin xogħlijiet biex titħejja l-infrastruttura għall-futur. Ix-xogħlijiet ta’ skavar għall-impjant li se jibdel l-iskart f’enerġija nadifa, u għall-bunker u l-pumping station tiegħu, waslu fl-aħħar fażijiet.
Min-naħa l-oħra, il-proċedura ta’ djalogu kompetittiv biex jingħażel il-fornitur tat-teknoloġija u l-operatur għal din il-faċilità tal-waste-to-energy, qiegħda fl-aħħar stadji tagħha. Ladarba jibda jaħdem dan l-impjant, aktar minn 190,000 tunellata ta’ materjal mhux riċiklabbli se jiġu trasferiti minn miżbliet u jinbidlu f’enerġija nadifa li se tlaħħaq għal madwar 4.5% tal-enerġija meħtieġa f’Malta. Id-disinji u l-istudji meħtieġa għall-impjant ġdid tal-ipproċessar tal-iskart organiku huma kważi lesti wkoll. B’din il-faċilità, li se tkun mgħammra bl-aħħar teknoloġija, bil-kapaċità li tikkonverti 74,000 tunellata ta’ skart organiku f’kompost u f’enerġija rinnovabbli fis-snin li ġejjin.
Bdew ukoll ix-xogħlijiet għall-iżvilupp ta’ skip management facility li se tittrasferixxi mas-47,000 tunellata ta’ skart li bħalissa jintrema fil-miżbla.
Il-Kap Eżekuttiv tal-WasteServ, Richard Bilocca, enfasizza li l-impjegati tal-WasteServ huma motivati bis-sħiħ biex iwettqu l-ambizzjoni ta’ Malta fl-immaniġġjar tal-iskart u kif l-investiment imressaq mill-gvern u l-aġġornamenti li saru riċentament fil-policies qed juru bidla pożittiva kbira.
Il-Kummissarju Sinkevičius żar ukoll il-miżbla riabilitata ta’ Wied Fulija, fejn ra kif il-pajjiż mhux biss qed jaħdem bla heda biex jilħaq il-miri tiegħu għall-futur, iżda qed jaħdem biex jirranġa l-iżbalji tal-passat. Wied Fulija, li darba kien problema ambjentali kbira fin-Nofsinhar ta’ Malta, issa sar park pubbliku u ċentru tal-bijodiversità, li joffri ċans lill-familji jgawdu s-sbuħija tan-natura.
“Dan huwa eżempju eċċellenti ta’ proġetti ta’ restawr tan-natura, li minn miżbla maħmuġa u tniġġes, inbidlet f’post sabiħ fejn tista’ tiġi għal xi mixja fin-natura waqt li tgawdi l-ibħra sbieħ ta’ madwar Malta. Dan huwa eżempju tar-restawr tan-natura li jaħdem fil-prattika,” temm jgħid il-kummissarju Ewropew.
