WasteServ Malta is calling on the public to squash plastic bottles before disposing of them at the bring-in sites, as this means they will take only one-third of the space.

Water and soft drink bottles are bulky items and squashing them will help WasteServ become more efficient when collecting and disposing of plastic bottles.

Since plastic is one of the most popular kinds of waste being separated at source and disposed of, extra bins for plastic are being placed at the 200 bring-in sites around the Maltese Islands.

In 2007, 500,470 kilogrammes of plastic alone has been collected from bring-in sites by WasteServ, nearly double that collected in 2005. Each bottle is currently sorted by hand at the temporary facility at Marsa until the Sant’ Antnin waste treatment plant resumes operations later this month. The plastic is then sent for recycling.

“There has been an overwhelming response from the public to WasteServ’s bring-in sites around Malta and Gozo,” said chief executive officer Vince Magri. “If plastic bottles are squashed at source, it will mean more free space at the bring-in sites used by residents and the community.”

WasteServ Malta Ltd said it would like to thank the public for making the bring-in sites project such a

success.