Waste collection fines could start being issued as early as December

Waste collection fines could start being issue as early as December, sources told The Malta Independent.

Contacted yesterday however, the Environment Ministry would not confirm what the sources within the environment sector told this newsroom.

A ministry official said that that the recycling figures are very positive however that there are still some not adhering to the regulations. The official only said that the ministry would be communicating a date when fines will begin to be issued soon.

The total amount of organic waste collected since the scheme launched nationally stood at 1,332 tonnes as at yesterday, noon.

The government recently enacted regulations regarding waste collection. The legal notice, among other things, makes it unlawful for any person to deposit or leave the wrong type of refuse for collection each day.

The new waste collection regulations did not result in immediate fines, and on 19 October Environment Minister Jose Herrera told The Malta Independent that for a short period from when the law came into force, stickers are being placed on bags brought out on the wrong day in order to better educate the public rather than fines being issued. Eventually however, fines will begin to be issued.

The organic (white) bag is collected on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while the black and grey/green bag collection days depend on the locality. The new regulations came into force on 31 October.

The process did not have the smoothest of starts however, with complaints of bags being left out in the street making the rounds on Facebook, and claims that trucks were mixing rubbish.

Wasteserv had previously addressed this criticism in a statement.

“In certain localities, waste collectors have trucks with two separate compartments, allowing them to collect both organic and another waste stream simultaneously. Hence organic waste is still delivered separately to Wasteserv.”