The only waste infrastructure proposal in the PN Manifesto is that it will abandon the ECOHIVE Waste to Energy Project and replace it Waste to Product Plant

What is a Waste to Product Plant? Well, that’s not really clear. But let’s first explain a few things about waste management. Waste management infrastructure is governed by a hierarchy. On top, as the best available option is recycling, just beneath it is recovery such as waste to energy, and at the bottom disposal – which is the worst possible option and revolves around landfilling.

In recent years Malta has made great progress in terms of waste management by reducing its reliance on landfilling from close to 100% to just over 70%. Last year alone WasteServ produced around 24,000 tonnes of separated materials that have been recycled into other products. Also, around another 40,000 tonnes of organic waste have been converted into energy and composts, with enough renewable energy to power 1,200 households. This is being done through EU funded infrastructure exclusively developed after 2013. A plant that processes Organic Waste, another that processes grey bag recyclables, one that does glass, another wood, mattresses, jablo, etc., and the list goes on. And much more work is still required, the Labour Government does not intend to stop there, with a number of other major projects already lined up. A much larger and more modern organic processing plant, a waste to energy facility, and more recycling infrastructure including a new skip management facility.

So let’s understand what the PN is proposing for this very important sector.

The most clear aspect is that they are scrapping the Waste to Energy Project.

The Waste to Energy Project is a facility that is intended to convert non-recyclable waste into green energy, to produce enough power for around 22,000 families. The PN is proposing to replace it with a Waste to Product. AI anyone? As we asked google to give us a prominent example of a Waste to Product plant it referred us to the CopenHill Waste to Energy Plant in Denmark, and for a local alternative it also referred us to WasteServ’s very own Waste to Energy Project in Malta. The term may also be used for other variants of facilities that produce energy in a secondary way after the production of chemicals, but these are not even considered suitable for Malta as they cannot cater for the mixed Maltese non-recyclable waste stream.

Confusing right?

It is clear that the PN has no serious plan for waste management and is moving away from the waste to energy project leaving Malta with the only option to resort to landfills for its non-recyclable and non-organic waste. Many are asking how after all these years in opposition, the PN’s only suggestion is to scrap the very facility that will once and for all eliminate Malta’s reliance on landfills. 

This drastic change in direction will also leave Malta at loggerheads with the European Union.

Jessika Rosawall, the EU Commissioner herself, when asked whether there is need for a Waste to Energy project in Malta  unequivocally stated ‘absolutely there is, we need all of them’, whilst also referring to the other circular economy projects being undertaken by WasteServ. And just a few months before this, the EU Commission, in a reply to a letter by the PN, had clearly stated that landfills ‘are responsible for the largest share of waste sector emissions’. 

The PN does not change unfortunately. It is devoid of ideas and not prepared. This is serious, and in this sector it will immediately cost thousands of square meters of agricultural land, and the environmental future of Malta’s youngest generation.