SPEECH BY THE HON FRANCIS ZAMMIT DIMECH, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, AT THE 7TH MALTA INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE ON "INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY"

The management of waste has been identified as a major problem for the Maltese islands for a number of years, as the various reports commissioned in the past witness. Islands, particular small island states like Malta, find the correct management of waste notoriously problematic and expensive. This problem is aggravated by such factors as Malta's extremely high population density and the tourism-related seasonal burden on the existing resources, the very limited local markets for recyclable material and projects, the limited availability of suitable sites for new waste management facilities. What you have is a dilemma, which the Government has undertaken to resolve also, although certainly not solely, as a result of the European Union accession process. The accession process provides us with defined commitments, as well as tested and track proven targets over a matter the resolution of which is clearly a national priority. The waste management problem is a national imperative.

How are we tackling the waste mountain? How can we realistically implement the three R's, reduce, reuse and recycle, in Malta?

Waste is a by-product of our way of life and its volume is growing all the time. Only last year solid waste disposed of at Maghtab and Sant'Antnin showed an increase of 18 per cent on 1999. Unfortunately the complexity and toxicity of waste is also growing. Each and every one of us generates an average of 0.83 kg. of waste per day, a figure comparable to the average one kg. of waste per person per day generated in the European countries. Projections for Malta, assuming waste minimisation initiatives, envisage a 34 per cent increase in municipal waste and a 60 per cent increase in industrial waste between 1999 and 2009.

The way we manage such waste is crucial as certain methods can represent serious health and environmental hazards that can only be reduced through drastic changes in both production and consumption methods. Both manufacturers and consumers should be directed, insofar as this is possible, towards environmentally sustainable methods of production, towards a minimisation of packaging and towards reusable packaging. Recycable containers and packaging are also an option but unfortunately, economies of scale often militate against the establishment of recycling facilities in Malta for a number of waste fractions. One solution, which has been encouraged by the Government's recent ratification of the Basle Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, is the exportation of certain fractions of waste for recycling. However, this also entails difficulties resulting from the high costs of transport and the fluctuation in the prices which the material exported for recycling fetches on the global market.

A solution to the waste problem implies developing a strategy, which takes into consideration both the type of the waste generated and the quantities as well as costs, including environmental costs. The landfilling of waste, currently the main method of disposing of waste in Malta, is, as a matter of pure monetary cost, the cheapest way of dealing with waste. However, it takes a huge toll on both the environment and activities which occur in areas surrounding the landfill sites. Uncontrolled landfills imply greenhouse gas and other emissions. They imply the leaching of such substances as pesticides, nitrates, organic compounds and heavy metals into the water table. They also imply a build-up of hazardous substances in the soil. The landfilling of waste is clearly not the most desirable solution.

What we must also ensure is the reduction, reuse and recycling of as large percentage of waste as possible so that the least amount of waste possible is sent to landfill.

One means of reducing the amount of waste which goes to Maghtab is actually already in place. Legal Notice 158 of 1998 provides that soft drinks can only be sold in refillable glass bottles or dispensed from a keg. This law aims at reducing the amount of soft drink containers which are disposed in a landfill through the obligatory use of refillable glass containers. When one considers that a soft drink bottle is used around 30 times before being disposed of, one can understand the environmental benefits of this law which has led to Malta having one of the most successful deposit-and-return schemes in Europe with a return rate of more than 90 per cent. Similar schemes for other containers might be one way forward in the implementation of the first two of the three R's – reduction and reuse.

The composition of the waste, which is currently being landfilled is particularly important given that over 80 per cent of the waste which goes to the landfills is construction and demolition waste. Reducing this part of the waste is not unfeasible both because current quarrying practices result in the creation of large amounts of construction waste and also because there is currently little recycling of Maltese stone - which is practically our only natural mineral resource - by the building industry. In addition, construction and demolition waste can be used in projects involving controlled reclamation at sea.

An important issue in the search for a waste management solution is clearly its cost. The Government is aware that the implementation of a fully comprehensive waste management strategy entails huge costs, akin to the costs implied by any major project. It is for this reason that the Government issued a call for Contract Proposals for the Development and Operation of an Integrated System for the Receipt, Management, Treatment, Processing and Disposal of Solid Waste in Malta. We want to ensure that all practices conform to, and even aim to go beyond existing and foreseeable standards and legislation both in the local context as well with regard to all relevant Directives and Regulation of the European Union. We are aware that having the best standards in solid waste management entails a multi million investment.

Government is determined to provide the best strategy for an integrated solid waste management of these islands.