Valletta mayor presents President with draft bill to combat food waste

A draft bill aimed at tackling food waste has been presented to President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca for her support.

The draft bill, presented by Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli, proposes that food about to expire in supermarkets be sent to volunteer organisations and NGOs serving those less fortunate, rather than being thrown away.

The bill, Mayor Dingli told this newsroom, is closely based on the French law introduced back in 2016, which forbids French supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them to donate it to charities and food banks instead.

Dingli said the President was supportive when he presented her with the draft bill.

According to international reports, under a law passed unanimously by the French senate, large shops were no longer allowed to throw away good quality food approaching its best before date.

Mayor Dingli said that he had the law translated into Maltese, and with the backing of the Valletta Local Council, has submitted it to the President of Malta.

The minister also took time to mention that the concession for the proposed communication link between Vittoriosa and Sliema, in the form of a tunnel beneath Valletta, will be announced in the coming weeks.

He said that the project is expected to be 800 metres long, and will use long and narrow ferry boats to transport passengers between the three localities.

The tunnel will be seven metres wide, seven metres above the seabed, and 4 metres below the fortifications.

Businessman Anglu Xuereb’s AX Holdings had previously been recognised as the preferred bidder of an alternative mode of transport project after an expression of interest was issued by Projects Malta for a sea tunnel linking Sliema with Valletta and Cottonera.

Xuereb had told this newspaper back in March that the project could be completed by 2018 and would cost around €12 million.