Further to the article published in The Sunday Times, 30th March 2008, “Waste Separation Postponed” Friends of the Earth (Malta) would like to point out that only minor parts of the PR text issued by the organisation were quoted in this article and these were out of context. A case in point of this is the paragraph which states why, given the size of the Maltese population, a door-to-door separation scheme is required when there are already many bring-in sites. It should be noted that Friends of the Earth (Malta) asked this question in relation to the economic and environmental context and whilst it comprehends that this scheme would reach a different sector of the population, it points out that the more schemes there are, the more the difficulties that will have to be faced and the higher the costs for society in general. What we really need to be sure about is whether it is worth the trouble of having another scheme when:

(1) the bring-in site system is in itself still experiencing teething problems and would benefit if more resources are deployed for its success;
(2) more collection trucks would be required for the separate collection and therefore more air pollution for us to deal with as well as more fuel, and
(3) the new scheme would need to impose new administration requirements, a continuous supply of bags and a different form of enforcement, and therefore, higher costs.
We need to be sure that the scheme takes these matters into account and that all these calculations have been made properly.  

The article in The Sunday Times mentions that the scheme, which follows a three-year-long process of discussion. However, after three years of discussion how come teething problems are being experienced in the final stages prior to its implementation? And why is it that some Local Councils until last Sunday 30th March, seem to be in oblivion when questioned about the availability of the bags? Friends of the Earth (Malta) believes that three years would have provided the Government enough time to meet Local Councils, if not individually, in clusters of five or so, in order to be able to discuss such issues in more detail.

Friends of Earth (Malta) poses again the questions to the Ministry regarding the Sant Antnin Waste Treatment Plant and whether it is designed to handle the weekly intake of bags. Will manual sorting be utilised to separate the waste in bags once it arrives there? Has the government tapped any new markets to resell the additional material collected? Friends of the Earth will continue to stress that waste management requires an integrated strategy that is able to tackle all these matters constructively and not only what is visible to the public.

Finally, we kindly ask the Ministry to state whether only the first pack of bags will be given for free. Countries that operate such systems charge a price on bags utilised for mixed waste and not those utilised for recycled waste.  If a charge is imposed on the ˜Recycling Tuesday” waste bag, how could we ever hope that citizens would feel encouraged to take the initiative and set the specific waste apart, clean it and then keep it for a week at home until the refuse trucks comes along.  On the other hand if the Ministry intends to give these bags for free, how will these be funded?

Friends of the Earth (Malta) would like to end this letter by making it clear that it is not against waste separation schemes but does not want it to be another half baked measure that does not utilise effectively society’s  hard earned taxes.

(Note: This letter was sent to the Time of Malta on three different occassions over a period of two weeks and so far it has not been published)