The locations of the currently-approved seabins are Pietà, St Julian’s, Msida, Marsaxlokk, Marsascala, Ta’ Xbiex, Kalkara, and Gżira, while the areas of the new nine in the pipeline are still unknown.

A seabin is a device floating on water and collecting garbage from the sea. Such a device is designed to float near ports, marinas and yacht clubs, according to Business Insider. A pump equipped to the seabin creates a flow of water that collects rubbish and debris in a catch bag.

Private entities like Norwex — a company funding ten of all the 18 planned seabins — will fund the installation of the seabins, while Strand Marine and Auto Systems Ltd will concentrate on logistical work.

Non-profit organisation (NGO) Żibel is in charge of the educational aspect. The Cleansing and Maintenance Division will collaborate with Żibel in order to take care of the maintenance of the bins. Żibel collected more than six tonnes of trash from Malta’s coastline during the summer, which the NGO says is only the “tip of the iceberg”, according to a report by the Times of Malta.

Furthermore, Mr Parnis said that the government is committed to ensuring that people have a cleaner island while Parliamentary Secretary for Consumer Rights, Public Cleansing and Support for the Capital City Deo Debattista added the importance of cleanliness not only on land but also at sea.

“As a division, we will be collecting detailed statistics on the amount and the kind of waste collected, this will help us better understand the cleanliness-levels at sea,” said Parliamentary Secretary for Consumer Rights, Public Cleansing and Support for the Capital City Deo Debattista. He also underlined the importance of understanding that illegally dumped waste ends up in the sea causing continuous issues. He added that two workers will be exclusively assigned to this project.

“We believe that this installation of new seabins is necessary because these provide a holistic solution for the reduction of waste in our sea and for reducing the damage that this waste is doing to the marine ecosystem,” added Mr Parnis.

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The assembly reunited considered not only a fundamental right of citizens to live in a healthy environment, but a duty of society as a whole to pass on a healthy and viable environment to future generations, the DOI press release underscores.

Moreover, Mr Herrera underlined the position taken by the General Assembly of the Council of Europe on 30 September 2009 at the 32nd sitting when debating the report of the committee on the environment, agriculture and local and regional affairs.

In addition, he noted that the whole world is prioritising more environmental justice with 149 out of 193 states have already included the right to a healthy and sustainable environment in their national constitutions. Malta took the same initiative last year when the parliament unanimously included such principles in its constitution, as the press release says. 

During his address, Mr Herrera said that adoption of the right of access to justice in environmental matters on the 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus at the 4th Ministerial Conference which is commonly referred to as the Aarhus Convention was an important milestone since one of the three underlying principles of this convention was justice. The treaty declares that citizens must be able to go to court if public authorities do not respect and fulfil the requirements created by EU laws, something which most European states nowadays have or are in the process of having.

“To strengthen environmental justice however, we need to widen the scope of the so-called actio popolaris [popular action] for environmental matters, meaning that citizens should be empowered to challenge executive and administrative decisions on environmental issues before the Courts without having to prove that they have a direct judicial interest in the cause,” concluded Mr Herrera. 

During his visit at the Republic of Cuba, Mr Herrera also held bilateral talks with Ms Elba Rosa Peres Montoya, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, and Ms Anayansi Rodrigez Camejo, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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“As environmental problems threaten agriculture and jobs in rural communities decrease, it has become essential to change the way we live and eat and Zoegi believes that the crypto community can lead that change,” the press statement sent to BM says.

Saying that modern agriculture is responsible for one-quarter of pollution that affects habitats around the world threatening biodiversity, Zoegi believes it has become essential to grow organic and improve the world’s food supply.

“We know that we cannot keep living as we do. Something has to change and food production is in the centre of that change. We cannot keep on polluting the planet, taking resources out of small communities the way we do. It’s simply not sustainable,” says Yelena Kensborn, founder of Zoegi.

Utilising blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Zoegi aims to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers, allowing the user to scan every product to see exactly where it comes from.

Having gained traction in Malta with a deal to supply restaurant Caviar and Bull, Zoegi expects to soon close further deals around Europe this year.

Fighting global crisis

The company wants to change the way food is produced and distributed and “to fight the global environmental crisis at the same time as bringing the economic power back to rural, economically deprived areas,” the press statement adds.

Zoegi says that by helping local farming communities they improve the environment with increased organic farming. The startup’s long-term goal is to create a decentralised economy where every community in the world would realise the value of their work and can sell their products to the international market.

Charging in crypto, not fiat, the startup is looking to identify the key influencers in the space who do not just see their crypto tokens as a digital asset to trade on an exchange but are looking at them as a means towards an independent economy, the press statement says. The team believes that this will make the public think of crypto as it was originally intended; a means to trade independently of a central authority and fix the problems of existing systems.

“The Mediterranean is the original hub for trading. Here, deals were made between Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Because of this, it has always been open to new currencies, and millions of different coins have passed the ports of Malta. It is, therefore, not surprising, that Malta has been the most prominent player in the crypto scene, with a clear eye to the future and where the world is heading,” the startup concludes in the press statement.

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Smart recycling iBiNs have gained quick public acceptance in Malta with a notable increase in the collection of recyclable paper, glass, metal and plastics and reduction of traffic emissions after the test run launched in January 2019, Mario Schembri, CEO of GreenPak, announced yesterday in the company of Kenneth Spiteri, Vodafone Malta’s Director of Enterprise and Member of the European Parliament Miriam Dalli.

“On selecting the colour-coded image of the iBiN, the app informs you whether an iBiN has free space for your recyclables. If the bin is full, the app guides you to the nearest available iBiN via a Google Map interface. User feedback from the trial period has been positive and we believe that people will be finding it extremely user-friendly and very useful,” said Mr Schembri.

The web app is available on the official website of GreenPak; no download is necessary. Furthermore, it is screen-responsive, which means that it works on any device such as smartphones, tablets, portable computers and others. Since early January, a group of 300 people throughout the islands have tried and tested the application, according to the press release.

“We are delighted to be able to help take the iBiNs initiative to the next level by supporting the web app; a simple and straightforward tool that pinpoints the nearest available empty bin and empowers citizens to be more environmentally responsible. Helping protect Malta’s environment is one of our three strategic pillars and we are therefore committed to using our next generation technology to help redefine the way waste is managed,” said Kenneth Spiteri.

Reducing emissions

The recently-installed system of iBiNs across Malta and Gozo have doubled the amount of plastic waste collected, while it has reduced the number of trips by collection trucks by 23%. Concurrently, this has lead to the reduction of gas emissions.

“Another advantage of this app is that it will be diminishing vehicular emissions as it serves to avoid unnecessary traffic movements on the roads,” said Mr Schembri. “Collection trucks are focussing only on those bins that need to be emptied, while responsible and environment-friendly citizens will be going directly to the nearest iBiNs. These results contribute to better traffic flows on the roads as unnecessary trips are avoided, bringing about another positive change in our communities,” he added.

During her term as an MEP, Ms Dalli has urged the European Union and its member states to promote alternatives to the usage of plastic, and further called for the incentivisation of upcycling — the process of transforming by-products into new materials in an environmentally conscious manner.

“The innovation and use of technology, such as the app being launched today, are important to increase environmental awareness and facilitate the public’s options for more sustainable choices. At European Parliament, we have worked on a number of laws to better manage waste in order to reduce it and recycle more. The next step is to implement these laws. In this manner, we can upgrade to the next level to leave a better environment for our children and future generations,” said Ms Dalli.

The project has been supported through the Business Enhance ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Grant Schemes Initiative, and part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under Operational Programme I 2014-2020 entitled Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges.

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Minister Herrera also confirmed that Malta steps up its efforts and is committed to issuing a strategy that will tackle more single-use plastic items, when speaking before the assembly, bearing the theme, “Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production”, according to a press statement by the government’s Department of Information (DOI).

Outlining the strategy, the minister said that the ten most single-use plastics that were identified as a significant threat to our marine environment need to be tackled. He also said that in the framework of this strategy, the government would apply a phasing-out approach in eliminating some plastic products while incentivising more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

Malta also signed the Ministerial Declaration of the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly whereby in principle signatory countries reaffirmed, “that poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development,” according to the DOI release.

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