Green MT CEO Joe Attard has lambasted the legal anomaly which forces waste collection operators to work for a particular local council without contractual obligations, especially given the growing waste they are required to recover, he said in comments to The Malta Independent.

“During this calendar year, we are estimating a market placement of just over 15,000 tons. This means a recovery requirement of circa 9000 tons, over three thousand tons less than last year,” Attard said, highlighting that the service provided a collection of an average 60 tons of recyclables each month. 

This came after sources told the newsroom that the Gozo Ministry has continued to supply waste collections services to local councils after Green MT discontinued the collection of recyclable waste from areas in Gozo and Malta, with videos and photos on social media showing overflowing bring-in sites across the island.

Last July, the Environment Resources Authority ordered GreenMT, a subsidiary of the Chamber of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (GRTU), to reverse its decision to discontinue the collection of recyclable waste from certain local councils in both Malta and Gozo after it found the service financially unsustainable.

While Green MT has appealed the decision, it has since notified seven local councils in Gozo and one in Malta that it would continue operations against a charge for carrying out the door-to-door collection of recyclable waste as well as a premium to service bring-in sites.

Local councils have been steadfast in refusing to pay for a service that was previously provided for free, with sources explaining that if a fund runs out GreenPak or GreenMT should charge the producer, not the local council.

Currently, the Packaging and Waste Directive ensures that every producer (businesses) has to recover 65% of all the packaging they put on the market (increasing to 80% by 2020); a producer then pays either GreenPak or GreenMT to collect the waste on their behalf.

Beyond that, Legal Notice 226 of 2017 stipulates that for local councils who do not have any agreement or arrangement with any Scheme, then the ERA would allocate one scheme to the local council, even if there are no longer any contractual obligations between a local council and a Scheme.

Stressing that the Director for Local Government  issued a memo to local councils, effective as of January 01, 2018 to follow procurement regulations for schemes, Attard claimed that local councils have not gone for a  tender procedure since “they are aware that ERA will, through the legal notice, impose the operations of the local council to a Scheme or other.”

Attard said that Green MT had informed the Ministry and the ERA in January 2018 and were told to inform them two months in advance if they were terminating services in a locality .

“When ERA was advised with such notice relating to seven Local Councils in Gozo and one in Malta they issued an enforcement notice to Green Mt so that we had to continue to effect operations to these local councils.”

This is now in appeal and will be heard by a tribunal in November.

Attard also took umbrage with emails sent on behalf of the ERA to producers who are members of Green MT, informing them that Green MT’s “state of illegality” is prejudicing their situation and they will be legally liable as their legal obligations to recover waste were not being met. 

He said that Green MT has already sent out a correspondence to its members insisting that they are not in breach of any law currently in force, highlighting the ‘abusive’ ERA legal notice and stressing that Green MT has a duty to achieve their members’ environmental obligations in the most economical way and not in the means ERA wants them to do it.

“We have, in return, now held ERA responsible for any financial losses that could result due to their communication to our members, which communication is totally illegal and unethical to say the least.”

“We intend to solve this matter by ascertaining that local councils follow the procurement legislation rigorously and Legal Notice 226 of 2017 is revised to create a fair and level playing field.”

Attard also revealed that Green MT held a meeting a week ago with ERA’s CEO and top-ranking officials “who listened to us but eventually heard nothing”, explaining that the operator has long requested for the establishment of a ‘Clearing House ‘which would take care of a fair and level playing field”.

A meeting with Minister Jose Herrera has been requested, this newsroom was told.

Ministerial statement

The government, through the Environment Ministry, Gozo Ministry, and the Parliamentary Secretary of Local Government, has taken holistic action to find immediate solutions to collection of recyclable waste. 

In the past few days, the Gozo Ministry has taken action to collect the waste from bring-in sites in Marslaforn and Xlendi. Apart from this ERA has also sought a private contractor to employ emergency measures to collect up waste and clean up the bring-in-sites in Munxar, Ghasri, San Lawrenz, Zebbug, Kercem, Fontana, and Gharb.

"At this stage, ERA has already formally communicated with the concerned parties regarding their obligations," a ministerial statement read.