ENVIRONMENT ERA confirms parts of Maghtab, Civic Amenity Sites operating on expired permits

Last week, The Malta Independent reported that a number of Wasteserv sites, including parts of the Maghtab landfill complex and Civic Amenity Sites were apparently operating on expired permits. ERA has since confirmed that the permits have expired and they are currently processing the renewal and/or variation of the permits, as per submitted application for these facilities.

Waste treatment facilities, classified as high-risk installations, are controlled through the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and thus require an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) permit. The main aim of the IPPC regulations is to minimise pollution from various point sources, according to the ERA website.

An exercise conducted by this newspaper had found that the Ta’ Zwejra non-hazardous engineered landfill in Maghtab is currently operating on a permit that expired on 24 July of last year.

On the other hand, the expiry date of the IPPC permit for Ghallis landfill – another part of the Maghtab facility, was not available. Ghallis takes all the non-recyclable non-hazardous waste generated on a daily basis by households and companies.

ERA has now confirmed that these landfills are operating without the necessary permit and the permit is under the process of renewal or variation. For the Ta’ Zwejra landfill this would mean that it has been operating on an expired permit for over five months.

There are currently no other landfills in Malta, which means that there is currently no landfill permitted to operate.

This newspaper had also found that three civic amenity sites are also operating under what seemed to be expired permits. Unlike larger waste treatment facilities, CA sites require an Environmental Permit.

An Environmental Permit is one of two ways in which the ERA regulates the environmental impact of industrial installations that can have various environmental impacts, ranging from emissions to air or the marine environment to contamination resulting from accidents.

The current permit for the Luqa civic amenity site expired on 6 June 2018, according to information available on ERA’s website.

The civic amenity site at TalKus near Xewkija, Gozo, is operating on a permit that expired on 27 October 2018, and the civic amenity site called Pitkalija, located at Ta’ Qali, is operating on a permit that expired on 15 April 2018.

ERA also confirmed that these civic amenity sites are operating without the necessary permit and the permit is under the process of renewal or variation.