PA approves higher landfill at Għallis

The Planning Authority’s board has unanimously approved plans which give the country space to deposit 850,000 cubic meters of landfilled waste by increasing the height of the Għallis engineered landfill.  

In a race against time before a new incinerator and other plants in the eco-hive complex at Magħtab start functioning, this will give Malta a respite of an additional three years to address the waste problem. 

Quizzed by members of the board, including the chairman Emanuel Camilleri on whether the board will once again be faced by future applications to extend and increase the height of the landfill Wasteserv in three years' time, CEO Richard Bilocca made it clear that this is not even physically possible. 

“I give you a guarantee that the landfill cannot be increased in height beyond what is being proposed now” 

The approved development aims to give Malta an additional three years to address its waste problem

Richard Bilocca gave a frank presentation on the challenges facing Malta in the sector while praising the government’s courageous decision to introduce higher gating fees for the dumping of waste in the landfill which will come in place as from next year.   

While noting that the amount of recycled waste has increase from 11% in 2020 to 15 % now, he acknowledged that this is still a far cry from the 60% target established in Malta’s long term waste strategy. Moreover, Malta has to reduce the landfilling rate from the current 90% to 10%.   

He also described the current waste separation system as rudimentary, but expressed his confidence in the infrastructural projects which will see Malta moving from “this rudimentary infrastructure to the best infrastructure to tackle the problem”. 

He described the final extension of the landfill at Għallis  as a “cushion” until the new infrastructure comes in place. He also announced plans for landfill mining to recover waste from existing landfills. 

The Planning Authority case officer, who recommended approval, described “the limited void space” available at Għallis’s non-hazardous landfill as “the most significant waste management issue at the national level”. 

The landfill is the only disposal option for non-hazardous waste in a country where only a small percentage of waste is recycled and most of it gets landfilled in breach of EU targets set by the Landfill Directive. 

It is estimated that the Għallis landfill currently has a remaining void space of circa 300,000 cubic metres. A previous permit to recontour the eastern side of Għallis approved in 2019 had already gained an additional 9 to 12 months of landfill void space by adding its capacity by 315,000 cubic metres. 

But the remaining landfill void “is expected to be filled rapidly, given current waste deposition rates”, the case officer’s report states. 

The proposed development involves an increase in the vertical height of the landfill profile to augment its volume capacity. The aim is to create an increased void space of just under 850,000 cubic metres for disposal of waste by raising the landfill contours. 

The availability of new void space is deemed essential to avoid a disruption of waste services. Moreover, the proposed increase in height of the landfill is considered as an alternative to the uptake of more land adjacent to the landfill. 

The report refers to alternative disposal technologies such as the waste-to-energy plant, which is still under development. 

“To allow for sufficient time to develop such alternative waste disposal options, obtain the required regulatory permits, and construct the required infrastructure, it is imperative that the lifetime of the Għallis landfill be extended as far as possible.” 

In the absence of this, the incinerator will not be in place before available landfill void space is exhausted. 

Moreover, the case officer warns that despite the introduction of alternative waste disposal facilities, a landfill will still be required for those waste streams for which there are no viable recovery or recycling options, and which are not suitable for thermal treatment via waste-to-energy.