Enemalta reveals land route for hazardous waste

The route was oulined in a document submitted by Enemalta to The Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

A traffic impact study submitted to MEPA estimates that a maximum of four 20-foot heavy vehicle containers will be passing through this route every day, two of which will be carrying hazardous waste.

These containers will be sealed and ISO certified.

The waste will leave Delimara and take the road linking Marsaxlokk to the junction between Ghaxaq and Zejtun. From there, it will be taking the road to Tarxien and subsequently Gudja, taking the road along the runway to the Freeport.

This route avoids residential areas in Marsaxlokk and B’Bugia.

MEPA has to decide on whether to issue an Integrated Pollution Control permit for a power station running on HFO which can only reach EU approved emission levels through a desulphurisation process – which would convert emissions into hazardous waste which has to be exported.

The containers will be stored within the Delimara power station for a maximum of three days.

In the event that the waste generated exceeds the maximum storage capacity because the waste is not exported on time, the plant is switched to more expensive gasoil firing, which eliminates the production of this waste.

Meetings with the relevant local councils (Marsaxlokk and Birzebbugia) are to be held to explain the proposed land route.

Operating at 0.7% HFO at full load, the volume of waste per day is expected to be around 27.75m3. This amounts to less than two 20-foot containers per day.

Reports presented by Enemalta claim that there are no risks arising from land transport of hazardous waste because the containers will be sealed. But these reports acknowledge that a risk exists “in the eventuality of an accident.”

In this case, “appropriate equipment will be used to address the spillage of the hazardous powder” which according to Enemalta is less dangerous than spillage of petroleum.

A cost benefit analysis on the use of different types of fuels reveals that waste disposal costs for HFO will amount to €16.26 per metric tonne of fuel in the case of HFO – 10 times as much as the waste disposal costs entailed by the cost of case of gas oil.

No such costs are envisaged in terms of the use of gas as fuel.

The report also shows that, over a 20-year period, the use of HFO will entail an additional 24 million over 10 years spent in the Desox reagents, which will transform emissions into hazardous ash for disposal. When it comes to gas oil, the cost of the Desox process falls to €2 million. No such costs exist with regards to gas. 

But the same analysis still shows that HFO is financially cheaper than both gas and gas oil, even when waste management costs are accounted for.