Residents need a more clear and specific directive by the government on how to dispose of recycled glass properly, following confusion which led to unwanted glass items not being collected on Friday, St Julian’s mayor Albert Buttigieg said.

Following a number of reports and complaints by residents that their recycled glass was not collected on the first Friday of the month as per usual, Buttigieg said the St Julian’s Local Council together with the Local Councils’ Assocation urge the government to discuss and sort this situation before Malta opens for tourism and before we return to normality. 

He explained that the reason as to why glass was not collected in St Julian’s, apart from other localities in Malta, was because WasteServ insisted that glass is not to be collected if not placed in grey plastic containers provided by the agency.

Although Buttigieg said that this idea on paper is a good one, it tends to give rise to some problems in practice. For starters, he argued that if the grey plastic containers provided by WasteServ are relatively big in size, this will pose a problem and space issue especially in a block of apartments as every resident will end up taking out their glass items together with the grey plastic container.

“If in a block of apartments a total of eight residents reside, we will end up with eight big, plastic containers in our streets,” he said.

Buttigieg added that another issue is that some people might steal someone else’s container.

He also mentioned that these grey plastic containers provided by WasteServ pose a problem when tourists visit Malta. He said that St Julian’s has a substantial amount of short lets which tourists rent out.

He asked: “How are we going to explain to these tourists that they are to take out their glass in grey plastic containers only, or else the items will not be collected?”

Some residents highlighted that their glass was actually placed in a plastic container but not in the one provided by WasteServ as they were never given one. They argued that it shouldn’t make a difference what colour or type of plastic box/container the glass is placed in, what is important is that the glass is collected and recycled properly.

“It seems that Wasteserv did not make the effort to distribute these grey plastic containers for glass items, the same way they did for organic bins, thus residents need to find a way to collect the containers themselves, which most of them do not do,” he said.

WasteServ says that glass bottles and glass jars are to be taken out on collection day in “any sturdy reusable container of your choice, such as as an old bucket or a crate.” WasteServ says that residents are to place their glass items in a plastic, wooden or metal box.

Meanwhile, it discourages the use of carboard boxes as they may become “brittle and even crumbly after getting wet.” Although cardboard boxes may be convenient for many, they may pose a risk to the waste collector when collecting the box to dispose the glass in the trucks.

Although Buttigieg agreed that the mixing of materials is harmful, he counter-argued by saying that in St Julian’s case “our contractor has a separator which is able to separate any glass from cardboard. Therefore, when it’s collected, the cardboard boxes are placed in one section of the separator, whilst the glass items are placed in another.”

“Prior to yesterday’s situation, the system of glass collection was working due to the fact that St Julian’s is equipped with this type of truck separator and system. However, WasteServ kept on insisting that this should not be done because materials are being mixed,” he said.

Buttigieg confirmed that although he understands WasteServ’s point as the mixing of materials severely deteriorates the quality of the recycled glass, in St Julian’s case this was not happening due to the truck separator.

At an extra expense for the St Julian’s Local Council, Buttigieg said that the glass is to be collected on Saturday through the use of the separator. He apologised for any inconvenience caused.

The procedure that will take place for the next glass collection day in St Julian’s is still unclear but Buttigieg said that “we hope that this will be settled before and that we are given clear directions on what needs to be done. Once we have these on paper, we will follow the directives.”