As from last year, all construction waste – which amounts to a staggering 80 per cent of the total waste produced – stopped being dumped in Maghtab, the Minister said, and instead was dumped in exhausted quarries.

These, he said, were then rehabilitated mainly for agricultural purposes.

“However, this process costs money,” he continued, “each ton of material transported to these quarries costs the government Lm1.18. It is estimated that the cost for the first six months of this year totals Lm1.4 million and the total construction tonnage for the period reaching Lm1.2 million with an average of 500 truck loads per day.”

This exercise, besides allowing the closure of Maghtab and Qortin landfills, in line with obligations made with the EU, will help to rehabilitate the Maltese countryside by rehabilitating the unsightly quarries into fields as they had been before.

This expenditure only accounts for construction waste and does not include the rest, he pointed out, adding that treating other kinds of waste, such as organic and other domestic waste was much more expensive. Estimates for this year indicate that Wasteserve will cost the government around Lm4 million.

Moreover, the government had plans to upgrade our present waste treatment infrastructure at an estimated cost of Lm32 million, of which the EU will be funding some Lm24 million.

The eco-contribution will help cover a part of these investments in the country’s waste management programme, which, he said has to be made sustainable otherwise it will not materialise and instead will remain on the drawing board.