GreenPak also noted that people should be more considerate about sorting their waste appropriately in order to use their recently installed smart-technology-run iBiNs to their fullest potential.

“The iBiNs send fill levels notice to GreenPak and collections are scheduled according to these readings. It is frustrating that while iBiNs are reporting available void, some individuals cannot be bothered to place the materials inside the bin,” said GreenPak’s CEO, Mario Schembri. “Flattening carton boxes and crushing plastic bottles is the proper way to deposit materials inside the iBiNs. Dumping of recyclable waste next to the bins is a littering offence,” he added.

“We are striving to empty the iBiNs more often in the many localities served by GreenPak. Nevertheless, the biggest problem is the total disregard by the authorities to enforce fines on those that ignore the law,” the GreenPak CEO noted.

GreenPak advised the government a few months ago to focus more on enforcement, such as instigating what GreenPak calls as “Rubbish Police”. GreenPak says the proposal was discussed with the Ministry for the Environment (MSDEC), as well as authorised recycling schemes so that stakeholders would work together to come up with a solution for littering that GreenPak tags as “national disease”.

“From our side, we increased the frequency for emptying the bins and have also started emptying of iBiNs at night, so as to avoid traffic congestions. But enforcement is still an unrelenting major problem. Although GreenPak has been sending images and footage of abusive actions to both ERA [Environment and Resources Authority] and LESA [Local Enforcement System Agency] to take action against the abusers, no decrease in littering has been noticed — if anything, littering is on the increase at an alarming rate,” Mr Schembri says.

GreenPak is prepared to install CCTVs at all iBiN sites, however, due to its experiences with law enforcement, the company says it is doubtful about the future effectiveness of such measures. “Law enforcement is a basic and fundamental government function. The lack of enforcement is severely undermining our investment and our work,” Mr Schembri underscores.

GreenPak recently installed smart technology-equipped iBiNs in 42 localities the collector serves, which was also accompanied by the launch of an online application that helps citizens locate the bins. Later on GreenPak said that their new iBiNs have helped increase the recovery of plastic waste. As recent figures show that between January and May 2019 plastic waste recovery nearly doubled when compared to the same period in 2018.

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Non-hazardous waste increased year-on-year 50.2% (933,169 tonnes) chiefly boosted by the generation of mineral waste from construction and demolition as well as dredging spoils, the NSO reported citing administrative data provided by WasteServ Malta Ltd and the Environment and Resources Authority. On the contrary, hazardous waste dropped by year-on-year 73.6% (98,757 tonnes) due to a drop in the generated amounts of discarded vehicles (vehicles and sea vessels).

Waste treatment recorded year-on-year growth of 49.2% (827,965 tonnes), as a result of higher amounts of waste that was pre-treated (419,847 tonnes) and backfilled (396,258
tonnes), the NSO says. However, recycling dropped by year-on-year 15.3% (43,124 tonnes) as recycling of construction, demolition and excavation waste saw a reduction.

“During 2017, the separate collection of waste fractions from all civic amenity sites decreased by 14.9% (4,470 tonnes) essentially due to a new procedure that was implemented to ensure that only waste generated by households is received in these facilities,” the NSO press statement says. The recyclable waste material collection grew by 21.2% from households’ green/grey bag and glass collection and by 7.0% through the bring-in sites. “Waste from the separate collection of organic waste also increased by 892 tonnes (41.3 per cent) due to the inclusion of Gozo region in the pilot project for the collection of this type of waste back in September 2016,” the press statement adds.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

The post Malta’s solid waste generation ups 41.9% in 2017 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

NSO’s report lists figures based on administrative data provided by Administrative data provided by WasteServ Malta Ltd and the Environment and Resources Authority.

The primary drivers of the increase are considered to be higher amounts of mixed municipal waste (10,930 tonnes) and bulky waste (10,160 tonnes). However, the growth was somewhat slowed by a decrease in the generation of wood waste (2,680 tonnes), the NSO reports.

Although waste collected from the civic amenity sites dropped by 18% (3,283 tonnes) in 2017,  municipal waste collected through both the door-to-door grey/green bag as well as the glass collection scheme was up by 21.2% (3,622 tonnes), according to NSO figures. Black bag waste collection accelerated by 2,627 tonnes from local councils and by 8,303 tonnes from other sources.

Waste treatment ups too

The total amount of municipal waste treatment increased by 11.5% in 2017, as compared to the preceding year, reaching a total of 264,744 tonnes. “The share of landfilling from the total municipal waste treated stood at 92.0%. The total amount of landfilled digestate, refuse-derived fuel and rejects shows that 37.3% of all landfilled municipal waste underwent a pre-treatment process prior to its final disposal,” the NSO says in their report.

The remaining 8% of the total municipal waste comprised of recycling. Municipal waste recycling increased by 2,261 tonnes in 2017, as compared to the preceding year. Recycled waste was chiefly made up of paper and cardboard (36.3%), metals (29.5%) and plastic (11.2%), the report adds.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

The post Malta generates 8.8% more municipal waste in 2017 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.