“The autoclave project which shall take seven months in total to be completed has been on track and on budget. This is another important milestone for the company in its drive to improve and modernize the infrastructure for waste management in our country.”
This was announced byWasteServ’sChief Executive Officer, Tonio Montebello during an onsite visit by the Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, Leo Brincat. Works on the autoclave plant commenced in January 2015 and are expected to be completed in October 2015.
Whilst viewing the advanced works on the Autoclave system in Marsa close to the WasteServ Incinerator, which has been treating animal and medical waste for years, Minister Brincat said that this new Autoclave, which is being builtusing the latest technology, will reduce the dependency on the MarsaIncinerator. It will also cut down odour and pollution, lower energy andfuel consumption, decrease current expenditure and will have a positive effect on climate change in our country.
He added that the new Marsa Autoclave will serve as a back-up as well as an alternative treatment facility for the existing MarsaIncinerator. Although it is based in Malta, it will also treat animal waste generated in Gozo, as well as process other dangerous waste. The Minister also announced that this project which started towards the beginning of the year is expected to be completed in Autumn2015 and will cost€12mexcluding VAT of which 85% will be financed through the European Regional Development Fund, and it is being built according to the established Green Procurement Procedures.
Chief Executive Officer Tonio Montebello explained that “This plant will result in substantial savings in fuel which is currently used to operate the incinerator. This is due to the extraction of tallow (animal fat) through the autoclaving process which is then used in the incinerator as fuel, thus resulting in substantial fuel savings. This plant will treat Animal By-Products (ABPs) from the civil abattoir and private slaughter houses currently totalling6,000 tonnes a year and as per EU Directives do not require treatment by incineration. Of these, 307 tonnes will originate from Gozo”.
Mr Montebello added that: “Waste heat energy from the incineration process will be utilised, which means that the treatment cost is much less. When this plant is completed, Malta will have two independent facilities that can treat ABP, the Incinerator and the Autoclave. Waste will be treated without odour release into the environment and waste water will be reused instead of being disposed in the sewers without any pre-treatment. Energy released from the plant will also be used to produce hot water for washing purposes.”
He further explained that, “the plant will minimise the dependency on fossil fuels while contributing to the conservation of electrical energy and water. The service that this plant will be providing is at a lower cost than the incineration. This project will also contribute towards reaching Malta’s commitment to reach the 5% reduction on greenhouse gas emissions and the 10% of the total energy consumption and generation of renewable energy resources. Furthermore, this plant will enable the treatment of expired foodstuffs containing Animal By-products which would then be used in the anaerobic digestion plants in Sant’ Antnin and eventually in the Malta North to generate biogas. Before the advent of the autoclave, such products could only be disposed of through incineration.”