Construction waste disposal in Malta - is there a sustainable solution?
As the crisis deepens as to the disposal of construction waste in Malta, the case grows for the argument towards reuse and recycling towards a more sustainable end product. The latest Government solution, with a proposal to dispose of construction waste in the marine environment – already warming due to climate change with related issues concerning biodiversity – cannot, surely, be considered a serious solution. Whilst officially having a Sustainable Development Strategy up to 2050, Malta legislation still lacks a strategic direction on construction waste disposal. The lack of disposal facilities for construction waste has been a recurring problem for years but has been accentuated by the construction boom of the past few years. In June 2018, contractors had complained that space was running out, to the point that the entire industry could go into recession.
According to the Times of Malta, [see below] the Environment Resources Authority issued permits enabling ten quarries in the limits of Mqabba, Siġġiewi and Iklin to take in debris, although according to local press reports there are only two quarries receiving construction waste at present. These include one at Għar Lapsi outside Siġġiewi, and the other in Mqabba. The Għar Lapsi quarry, which commenced receiving waste only last year, is by some accounts nearly full, with no other facility ready to take waste despite a few other permits being in hand. Some quarries are still providing stone while the owners of others may not consider the operation that receiving waste entails to be viable [1].
There are only sixteen potential quarries that can be possibly refilled with construction waste, but this is not a long term solution to the underlying problem. There must be clear and enforced policy legislation, with a clear vision and long-term government policy regulating the way earth excavation and demolishing of building is undertaken. The current crisis has been set in place by the doubling of the agreed price of construction waste, contrary to the agreement between the government and developers [2]. Initially the government had agreed to provide incentives to the relevant quarry owners to keep the price stable at €8 per tonne for at least another year and a half. The waste comes mainly in the form of excavated earth and rubble from demolition. Around the middle of September 2019 this was doubled to a price of €15 per tonne causing an outcry amongst the builders working in the industry and an overall worry about the overall effect on a currently expanding construction sector.
Immediate consequences are already being seen, with fly tipping and construction waste being left randomly outside recycling bins and vacant land [3]. The government of Malta must provide a clear sighted and sustainable option for the recycling of construction waste not just its disposal, to avoid contaminating further the environmental and marine biodiversity of the islands and marine surroundings. So what is the solution? To reutilise in land reclamation projects and cause detrimental effects to not only the biodiversity of the marine environment, but also that would do disservice to the tourist industry which relies on pristine waters and retaining Malta’s atmospheric and traditional island beauty.
For a paper on a more sustainable approach for the recycling of construction waste, please find link here
This article is a compounding of various articles in Malta press, For sources please see below.