Two legal notices published on Tuesday in the Government Gazette are putting into effect the mandatory separation of waste, following a public consultation about these regulations by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) last November, ERA said in a statement.

"As from 14 April 2023, two months after the publication of these new regulations, waste separation will be enforcable by law for everyone, including businesses, governmental and non-governmental entities as well as private homes. This means that one will no longer be allowed to dispose of organic waste in the black bag as this will now have to be put into the designated white bag. The same applies to recyclable waste such as plastic and paper and other materials which have to be separated and disposed of in the grey bag designated for recycling. Glass will no longer be allowed to be put in the black or grey bag but must instead be separated and taken out for municipal door-to-door collection by itself every first and third Friday of the month, as per existing municipal waste collection schedule."

"Nonetheless, during the first six months, between April and October, the authorities will be conducting an educational campaign for the public to familiarise themselves with these new regulations. Throughout this period, persons caught disposing of waste inappropriately will receive a warning. After the lapse of these six months, whoever is caught disposing of waste inadequately will be fined €75 for businesses and €25 for households. These fines will double to €150 and €50 respectively if the individual is caught repeatedly disposing of waste inappropriately."

ERA officials and officials from other entities will be carrying out continuous inspections in all localities to assure that the waste that is being deposited for door-to-door collection is separated in line with the regulations, in the appropriate bags taken out on the correct days, ERA said. "This follows a new schedule that was introduced in January by the regional councils, who are responsible for waste collection from households on behalf of the local councils."

"In addition to door-to-door waste collection, residents in Malta and Gozo can also continue to use other methods, including taking recyclable waste to the I-bins and bring in sites in every locality or in the civic amenity sites operated by Wasteserv, as well making use of the free bulky waste collection service offered by the local councils."

More information on how to separate waste can be found here: https://www.wsm.com.mt/en/waste-separation-guide