Extension to Għallis landfill approved in race against time

The Planning Authority has approved Wasteserv’s plans to increase the Għallis landfill capacity by approximately 840,000 cubic metres in a bid to buy the site a lifeline for 29 more months.

All seven planning board members present voted for the extension.

The increased volume will be achieved by recontouring of the landfill’s existing slopes without increasing the maximum height of 82 meters as approved in another extension in 2022.  The extension is necessary to prevent a national waste disposal crisis until the new incinerator at the EcoHive complex is operational.

In a Project Description Statement submitted last year, the national waste agency said the limited void space remaining at the Għallis landfill was “the most significant waste management issue at a national level”.

The landfill is the only disposal option – apart from exporting waste at a prohibitive cost – for non-hazardous waste streams where recovery or recycling is not viable.

Additionally, this extension will provide sufficient time for the proposed waste-to-energy infrastructure to “obtain the required regulatory permits” and for the construction of the necessary infrastructure.

In light of this, “it is imperative that the lifetime of the Għallis landfill be extended as far as possible,” Wasteserv said in a project statement.

The Planning Authority approved an incinerator at Magħtab in 2022, which will burn up to 400 tonnes of non-hazardous domestic waste per day. However, the project, initially proposed in 2018, has faced delays in the tendering process.

The additional space at the landfill will be used concurrently with the remaining void space created by another application approved in 2022.

The project will not take up new land since Wasteserv will be maximising existing space by creating steeper slopes.

In essence, this project involves the use of compacted waste, lining materials, and engineered reinforcement to create a free-standing retaining wall.

This wall will have a steeper profile than the current lateral side of the remaining Għallis landfill. The retaining wall, with a height varying from 15 to 20 metres, will provide the Għallis landfill with a capping layer as required by the EU’s Landfill Directive.

In a race against time, this is the second time in four years that the national waste agency has submitted such an application. The 2022 permit allowed Wasteserv to increase the vertical height of the landfill profile to augment its capacity.

This followed another permit issued in July 2019, which introduced specialised engineering techniques to increase the steepness of the profile on the eastern side of the Għallis landfill, thereby increasing void space by just over 300,000 cubic metres.