Total waste treated almost doubles in 2012

In 2012, the total amount of waste treated in Malta amounted to 1,988 thousand tonnes, up by 83.9 per cent over 2011. This mainly resulted from an increase in inert mineral waste which more than doubled. Furthermore, the treatment of municipal waste and other waste streams increased by 1.2 per cent and 21.2 per cent respectively.

Waste managed in the Għallis Landfill went up by 7.2 per cent over 2011. Whereas municipal waste declined by 2.7 per cent, secondary waste arising from wastewater treatment plants and waste sorting facilities increased by 25,772 tonnes, or 41.8 per cent.

The figures in Table 3 show that the management of inert mineral waste advanced by 125.0 per cent over 2011, mainly due to a sharp increase in the management of mineral waste from dredging. On the other hand, non-hazardous mineral waste managed in quarry sites remained stable.

In 2012, the input of waste into the Sant'Antnin Waste Treatment Plant, managed by WasteServ, went up by 10.6 per cent. Table 4 shows that the bulk of input into the Sant'Antnin Plant originates from municipal sources. In 2012, municipal waste made up 94.4 per cent of the total waste input into the plant.

The Marsa Thermal Treatment Plant incinerated just under 6,000 tonnes of hazardous and non-hazardous waste in 2012, down by 7.5 per cent over 2011. Waste originating from public and private slaughterhouses and by-products of animal rearing was predominant, accounting for 90.3 per cent of the total inputs into this facility.

The treatment of waste in private pre-treatment facilities amounted to 66,047 tonnes, up from the 61,643 in 2011, primarily due to an increase in construction and demolition waste (+131.4 per cent).

In 2012, waste collected from bring-in sites dropped by 30.4 per cent as a result of sharp declines in the collection of paper and cardboard and glass, by 38.2 per cent and 27.8 per cent respectively. Furthermore, waste collected from civic amenity sites fell by 8.5 per cent, mainly as a result of a drop of 19.6 per cent in the collection of mixed construction and demolition waste. On the other hand, the volume of grey bags from households increased by 6.0 per cent to 10,720 tonnes.