Recovery of separated waste No longer WasteServ Responsibility

The Official Opening of the Sant Antnin Recycling Facility is a milestone in the Waste Managment Strategy. WasteServ (Malta) Limited were instrumental and both managment and staff are to be commended. WasteServ started quite a few years back in relation with a waste separation strategy by introducing Bring in Sites in local Councils. This in itself six years ago was not an easy feat.

Today, WasteServ manages the MRF facility but is no longer responsible for any logistics of recovery outside these premises. Green MT, a fully owned subsidiary of GRTU, recoveres and pays contractors for recovery of the grey bag, bring in sites, Government Departments, Schools in 41 Local Councils in Malta and Gozo. Green MT as such is responsible directly for a population of 285,000. Green MT is funded by private industry, the producer who places packaging waste on the market. These producers pay the Schemes for their operations. Wasteserv have now offshouldered all this responsability and it is well that the public is aware that Green MT recovered 14,163 tonnes of Recyclables, between July 2009 and September 2010, and delivered all this material for processing at the Sant Antnin Material recovery Facility.

This means that 43% of all material recovered at this facility came from Green MT in a 15 month period of operation.  In 36 months 33,000 tons of material fractions were received at this facility. We are proud to have been prime movers in the increase of recovery of separated waste . Agreements with 41 Local Councils who contributed to this success were also instrumental in this sector.

We now need to move on. Today Green MT recovers over 78% of all material brought to this facility. Despite all the goodwill results show that economies of scale are not being reached. The private sector needs to take over this facility under a managment agreement with the same WasteServ (Malta) Limited. 

Schemes funded by private industry provide near to 95% of all separated waste delivered to this facility. Schemes need to run this (MRF) facility. Private facilities are currently not being permitted and this is resulting in operations at unauthorised facilities, thus creating a sizeable black market economy.

Today we are at a crossroads, either Schemes are allowed to operate under EU Directives or else Government through WasteServ, can once again go back to the drawing board in breach of EU Directives.  Only time will tell!