Waste Management – an integrated approach
Organised by the Cleaner Technology Centre, Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta
Friday 28 April 2017, Radisson Blu, St Julian's
The half-day seminar organised by the Cleaner Technology Centre provided attendees with an overview of the different aspects of waste management ranging from waste-related policy, circular economy, legal aspects and the actual practices.
The seminar was opened by the Hon. Jose Herrera, Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change. He spoke about the importance of waste management particularly on an island like Malta where tourism plays an important role in the economy. He also emphasised the importance of promoting a circular economy.
Prof. Thomas Lindhqvist, from Lund University in Sweden, was the keynote speaker. He spoke about the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and its history since the 1980s. He described how a typical EPR scheme works with different producers, operators and authorities. Operators organize the collection, sorting (dismantling) and transport to recycling facilities. He concluded on the role of EPR of finding effective and efficient solutions to the problem of waste management.
Prof. Jonathan Borg noted how an integrated approach to the management of waste is required if the goals of a circular economy are to be reached. He remarked on recycling and the need to look at the design of products rather than the end solution. The concept of a circular economy requires a re-think of processes but also of legislation and financial instruments. Eco-design must look at the ease of dis-assembly, ease of re-use and recycling, reparability and the possibility to upgrade the product.
Ms Mary Gaerty, Director of Green Skips Ltd and chair of the Recyclers Association Malta spoke about hazardous waste and how in the past this type of waste was dumped in a 'grey area' at the landfill. She also noted how hazardous waste is more clearly differentiated today and how the different legislation has set different requirements on the producers, managers and recyclers.
Mr Sergio Tartaglia, Senior Officer at the Environment and Resource Authority, provided a clear description of the current legislation and how the proposed changes will set new requirements on the Maltese system.
Mr Tonio Montebello, CEO of WasteServ Malta Ltd, described the different infrastructure currently being utilised for the management of waste. He noted that the newly installed mechanical and biological treatment facility, known as Malta North will save a total of 58,138m3 of landfill volume per annum. He also gave an overview of the ongoing campaigns and noted that the separate collection of organic waste has now reached 23 localities (all of Gozo) or 45,000 households.
Finally, Ms Margaret Camilleri Fenech gave a presentation about her Ph.D. research. The research looks at waste management in islands through material flow analysis. The analysis focuses on actual data from 2012 and projected data for 2018 in order to examine three proposed scenarios as presented in the Waste Management Plan 2014 -2020. In addition to this, the research examined the carbon footprint for waste management, using the CO2ZW tool. In 2012 the carbon footprint was high when compared to other countries however there is potential for this to reduce through the development of separate biowaste collection and the introduction of the Malta North facility.
