PD calls for budgetary action on construction waste reuse

Partit Demokratiku (PD) has called on the government to provide budgetary measures to address the issue of reusing construction waste, while also calling on the Planning Authority and the Environment and Resources Authority to regulate the area of operations.

“Construction waste is a resource, not a waste,” PD pointed out. “Malta still lacks a construction sustainability strategy despite having a Sustainable Development Strategy - 2050.”

The party reiterated its calls for the government to draw up a longterm strategy.

Land reclamation, it said, was not a solution of a cyclical economy and, “in this respect, the government lacks vision.”

Deputy leader Timothy Alden said: “There are only 16 potential quarries that can be refilled with construction waste. The long-term solution lies in regulating the way earth excavation and demolition are performed.”

PD’s Marcus Lauri added: “This take, make and throw away attitude is no way forward in construction waste, especially since stone is a non-renewable resource. We have depleted our limestone as a precious resource. It is time that this is recovered rather than savagely bulldozed during demolition.

“All building material and products can be reused in other forms, thus reducing waste,” he further added.

Party leader Godfrey Farrugia said: “It is useless having the lobbyist Malta Developers Association crying wolf when, by means of construction sustainability, raw material can be conserved through reuse and recyclability. In so doing, we will also reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.”