Yesterday, the Thermal Treatment Facility in Marsa was open to members if the public who were interested in seeing how the plant operates.

The incinerator, which employs 28 people, has treated 7,000 tonnes of slaughterhouse, pharmaceutical and farm waste this year.

Opened in December 2007, this plant was co-financed by the Fifth Financial Ital-Maltese Protocol. The plant was to cost €10.8 million, but with an investment of another €2 million, this facility can now accept a wide range of waste fractions for treatment.

This incinerator treats abattoir waste, clinical waste, refuse-derived fuel (RDF − which is waste that generates a large quantity of energy like wood), and other waste like used solvents and industrial sludge.

This measure will increase the efficiency of operations at this facility and should suffice to meet all the national requirements as regards thermal waste treatments.

The plant is in conformity with the strictest standards of emissions, exceeding those established by the EU. The commissioning of this facility has made it possible to decommission the old non-compliant incinerators, including that at St Luke’s Hospital, the old incinerator at the abattoir itself and at the Gozo General Hospital.

The incinerator is dependent on the supply of electrical energy and diesel to operate its high temperature furnace. The temperature is controlled by circulating cold water, which is then released as steam.

WasteServ has carried out studies to investigate the potential of recovering electrical energy from the ‘waste heat’ of this plant. The results obtained are encouraging and WasteServ is currently seeking funding to procure the turbine and generator estimated to cost €1.4 million.

When this additional plant is installed and commissioned, this facility will be able to produce 350KW of electrical energy, making the incinerator self sufficient in terms of electrical energy.

Since this amount of energy is more than its normal requirements, the system will be connected to the National Grid for export of this energy. It should also be noted that the incinerator is equipped with a system that will provide the steam required at the Civil Abattoir, thus avoiding the need to operate any boilers there.