500 people visit Magħtab environmental complex on open day

Around 500 visitors from various localities actively participated in a day of activities held at the Magħtab Environmental Complex organised by Wasteserv.

Environment Minister José Herrera, also visited the complex for the first time yesterday and was given a show round by Wasteserv CEO, Tonio Montebello.

Herrera and members of the public had the opportunity to visit the newly inaugurated Malta North plant, an investment of almost €50 million, through which all black bag waste is now being treated instead of being sent directly to landfill.

The biological treatment process results in the generation of electrical and heat energy, which is used to make the facility self-sufficient while also returning excess energy to the national grid.

Throughout the day, visitors could witness the changed landscape of the rehabilitated landfill closed in 2004, and observe first-hand the huge area taken up by the operational Għallis landfill currently in use.

“Through this Open Day we hope to have raised more awareness on the need to reduce the amount of waste we throw away on a daily basis,” Montebello said.

“The infrastructure is in place but equipment alone is not enough – we all have a part to play.”

The Open Day also presented fun activities for children and grown-ups alike, with shows by Danusan, BMX Malta, Police Dogs Malta and animation and games throughout the day.

Commenting about his visit Herrera said that last year Malta had registered a deduction of nearly 30% in CO2 emissions.

“This treatment plant will continue to contribute to these figures in a positive way as it will be reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions by around 25,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.”