In a letter sent to The Malta Independent, NTM said that they agree with ECVM’s comments that materials that end up in “waste” are a potential resource, which is why the organisation has promoted the concept of “reuse” and “recycle”.

“Unfortunately from 1972 to 1 May 2004 ,the national Maltese waste management system was merely (the use of a landfill) where all our waste was sent. Engineered landfills are a novelty here, but we understand that (ECVM) took the presence of engineered landfills in Malta for granted,” said NTM.

In a scenario of an unmanaged landfill, various academic studies have pointed to areas of environmental concern and potential health hazards. NTM said that a study by the University of Exeter, UK, showed that the levels of dioxins in the Maghtab landfill area was almost 1,000 times as much as the level in the surroundings.

Dioxins (and furans) were emitted from the decomposition of burning plastics, during the characteristic explosions that are common in such non-engineered landfills – secondary to the reaction of sunlight with the methane emitted from decomposing organic matter.

Dioxins are widely suspected of being teratogenic – mutate germ cells of embryos. The methane emitted is diluted in such open spaces, thankfully enough, since it causes asphyxia in closed spaces, NTM said. Dioxins are also known to be a respiratory irritant, it added, and with Malta having exceptionally high rates of childhood and adult asthma, high levels of dioxins are not to be wished for.

Explosions that cripple the Maghtab land rise should not be encountered in engineered landfills. Nevertheless, even in this scenario, “we would opt to favour the use of materials that can be reused and are intrinsically safer rather than materials which are to be recycled and are potentially hazardous,” NTM said.

With regard to the recycling characteristics of PVC compared to PET and other alternatives, and the associated market and economy factors that influence a preference for one or another, NTM said that it would be in the interest of all Maltese for as much information as possible to be gathered.

This is in view of government’s commitment, following its accession to the European Union, to undertake a feasibility study on the desirability and practicability of converting to a bottling industry based on plastics.

In its first statement in reaction to the eco-contribution (TMID 22 July), NTM said that “plastics are harmful to human health when they end up in our landfills and thus whoever uses them should pay the eco-tax” and that “PET plastic... is environmentally less harmful, as it is potentially recyclable and should be taxed at a lower rate than PVC plastic, which cannot be recycled.”

ECVM sent a letter to TMID contradicting both these statements and saying that plastics are not harmful to human health. It said

that PVC plastic can be recycled, and gave various examples of current recycling technologies.