EU funds were crucial for WasteServ’s project to upgrade the Sant’ Antnin Waste Treatment Plant, part of which, the Material Recovery Facility (MRF), was officially opened yesterday, in time for the open weekend at the plant.
Seventy per cent of the funds required for the e27 million project were obtained from EU Cohesion Funds 2004-2006.
Separated waste brought from bring-in sites and civic amenity sites is manually sorted at the MRF before being sent for recycling.
The bulk of recyclable waste is PVC and PET plastic, which is first sorted out and then compressed and wrapped into bales measuring about one to one-and-a-half cubic metres and weighing between 400 and 600 kilogrammes.
PET plastic is sorted according to whether it is transparent or green, as it has a higher value when exported for recycling.
Speaking at the Sant’ Antnin plant in Marsascala during the official ceremony marking the opening of the upgraded MRF yesterday, Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment George Pullicino said the facility will contribute significantly to the way waste is recovered.
Thanks to the upgrade of the MRF, the government is now in a position to introduce a weekly door-to-door collection of packaging waste.
On Thursday Mr Pullicino is expected to announce details of this system, which will start functioning in the first week of April.
Work at Sant’ Antnin is ongoing and a section for the treatment of organic waste is expected to be ready by the end of the year, said Minister Pullicino.
This section, together with the MRF, will have the capacity to treat one-third of all the waste generated.
He added that apart from forking out 30 per cent of the funds required for this project, the government will be investing another e11 million in construction work at the plant.
Mr Pullicino said: “I am happy with the ever-increasing figures of waste that is being recycled.
“I would like to appeal to the public to continue using the facilities for waste separation because without their help, there would be little use for the modernised Sant’ Antnin plant”.
WasteServ’s chief executive officer, Vince Magri, said the plant now provides a healthy environment for its employees.
“I remember a time when I visited the plant and had to brush cockroaches off my jacket.
“The MRF plant is the long-awaited facility to back the sorting of all the waste collected from bring-in sites and other waste separation facilities.”
Ing. Magri said: “The throughput capacity of this plant should suffice to help our country meet the obligations related to the recovery of packaging waste, while also preventing organic material from reaching the landfill”.
The Sant’Antnin plant is designed to handle 36,000 tonnes of recyclable waste, including that collected from WasteServ’s 200 bring-in sites, the 200 bring-in sites within school premises and the three civic amenity sites.
In an exercise to keep the public informed of ongoing progress, the Sant’Antnin Waste Treatment Plant in Marsascala will be open to the public today between 10am and 4pm.
WasteServ’s trained staff will give guided tours of the plant. Exhibitions, shows and other events have been organised specifically for this open weekend.