5.5% more solid waste treated in 2013

In 2013, the total amount of treated solid waste increased by 5.5 per cent over 2012.

In 2013, the total amount of solid waste treated in Malta amounted to 2,057 thousand tonnes, up by 5.5 per cent over 2012. This mainly resulted from an increase of 7.8 per cent in inert mineral waste treatment, which was partly offset by a decrease of 3.4 per cent in non-mineral waste treatment.

The amount of waste managed in the public landfills went down by 1.8 per cent, mainly as a result of a decrease of 2.6 per cent in the quantity of landfilled waste. Municipal waste, which represented 65.2 per cent of non-hazardous waste (managed in public landfills), decreased by 3,368 tonnes or 1.9 per cent.

The management of inert mineral waste advanced by 7.9 per cent over 2012, mainly due to a steep increase in the management of mineral waste that was disposed of or recycled in quarry sites.

In 2013, the contribution of waste input into the Sant’Antnin Waste Treatment Plant, managed by WasteServ, went up by 6.3 per cent over 2012, to 70,368 tonnes. This mainly resulted from an increase of 7.6 per cent in waste generated from municipal sources and the green/grey bag scheme, which accounted for 95.5 per cent of the total waste input into the Plant.

In 2013, all the waste collected through the green/grey bag scheme increased by 4,418 tonnes to 11,764 tonnes.

The waste incinerated by the Marsa Thermal Treatment Plant increased by 10.3 per cent in 2013, to 6,586 tonnes. Waste streams originating from public and private slaughterhouses and from by-products of animal rearing were predominant, accounting for 91.8 per cent of the total inputs into this facility.

The treatment of waste in private pre-treatment facilities declined by 22.4 per cent to 51,263 tonnes, primarily due to a decrease in oil wastes and wastes of liquid fuels (-54.2 per cent) followed by construction and demolition waste (-19.2 per cent).

In 2013, waste collected from bring-in sites increased by 17.3 per cent as a result of increases in all materials, mainly glass (+15.9 per cent). Furthermore, waste collected from Civic Amenity Sites increased by 17.5 per cent, mainly as a result of higher amounts of construction and demolition waste (+37.8 per cent), bulky waste (+11.3 per cent) and wood waste (+8.5 per cent).

Similarly, the volume of green/grey bags from households increased by 9.4 per cent to 11,729 tonnes, which is the highest amount collected through this scheme since its inception in 2008