Statistics showing that waste recycling in Malta reduced by 40% in 2016 shows a lack of will by government, and incompetence in treating the environment and waste management, PN MP Jason Azzpardi has said.

NSO statistics, he said, show that recycling waste reduced by more than 10%. The PN MP noted that while government increased the number of Wasteserv emplyees, the waste problem grew rather than reduced, and waste management worsened rather than improved.

This incompetence and lack of will could result in the engineered landfills filling up more quickly than originally planned, he said, adding that instead of using resources in the best possible way and with the environment in mind, the lack of will, will be used as an excuse to build an incinerator at the Ghallis landfill.

Azzopardi said that government is still far from reaching the 2020 targets.