Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1547077
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 OCTOBER 2026 NEWS Environment Ministry says new tender will be announced in due course, while insisting landfill capacity is sufficient for the years ahead and emphasising recycling and reuse MALTA has sufficient landfill capacity for the years ahead un- til the government's ECOHIVE strategy is fully implemented, the Environment Ministry has said. But government has provided no date for issuing a new ten- der for the planned €600 million waste-to-energy plant. In a reply to MaltaToday, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Environment said the tender had not yet been issued. The me- dia would be informed of plans for its publication, together with the relevant information surrounding the matter, she added. The ministry did not speci- fy when a new tender would be published, when the plant was expected to become operational, or how much landfill capacity re- mained at the Magħtab complex. The waste-to-energy plant is a central component of the govern- ment's ECOHIVE strategy, which aims to reduce Malta's reliance on landfilling by treating residual waste and recovering energy. The procurement process for the €600 million project col- lapsed in December 2025 after legal challenges disrupted the original tender. The contract had been awarded in 2023 to a con- sortium led by French company Paprec and local contractor Bon- nici Bros, whose bid was worth around €600 million. Rival bidder Hitachi Zosen Ino- va challenged the evaluation pro- cess, leading the courts to order a reassessment. A second evalu- ation again selected the Paprec consortium, but it subsequently failed to renew its bid. The ten- der then fell to Hitachi, which had submitted a higher offer of around €781 million. However, Hitachi, which has since rebranded as Kanadevia, sought to make the extension of its bid conditional on agreeing to changes to the project's scope and technical specifications. Was- teServ rejected the conditional extension, saying bid validity ex- tensions could not contain devia- tions from the original offer. The procurement process ulti- mately closed without a success- ful award. The government has yet to an- nounce a timetable for restarting the process. Government points to investments in landfill capacity Addressing concerns about con- tinued reliance on landfill, the ministry said WasteServ had, over the past years, invested in innova- tive approaches and technologies to ensure that Malta had suffi- cient void space for the years to come, until the ECOHIVE strate- gy was fully implemented. It stressed the country already had the necessary infrastructure to divert recyclable waste away from landfill, preserving available space for waste that could not be recycled. The ministry pointed to the free collection service for separated household waste and the treat- ment of organic waste, which produces renewable energy and high-grade compost for farmers. Construction of a new organ- ic waste processing plant was launched earlier in 2026. Accord- ing to the ministry, the facility is intended to double Malta's capac- ity for treating organic waste. The response places consider- able emphasis on existing waste separation, recycling and reuse measures, but does not explain how urgently the government in- tends to advance the waste-to-en- ergy project or whether its role within the wider ECOHIVE strat- egy has changed. 242 million beverage containers collected in 2025 The ministry also cited the Bev- erage Container Refund Scheme, describing it as a successful scheme for food-grade recycling. It said 242 million beverage con- tainers were collected for recy- cling in 2025 alone, diverting them away from landfill. WasteServ provides six civic amenity sites across the islands where residents can dispose of different waste streams, including electrical and electronic equip- ment, textiles, bulky waste and hazardous waste. The ministry added that Was- teServ resells items that remain in good condition through its Reuse Centre. It stressed that properly sepa- rating waste before collection was essential to recycling, as it greatly reduced the possibility of con- tamination. "These initiatives are a testa- ment to the steps the country is taking to divert waste away from landfill and create a secondary resource, and to what can be achieved when each individual makes an effort to contribute to a circular economy," the spokes- person said. Landfill pressure and EU targets Malta faces a substantial chal- lenge in reducing its reliance on landfill. The European Commis- sion's 2026 country report states that 74% of municipal waste was landfilled in 2023, compared with an EU average of 22%. Malta's municipal waste recycling rate stood at 16.7% in 2024, well below the EU average of 48%. The Com- mission warned that Malta was at risk of missing the 2025 target of preparing 55% of municipal waste for reuse and recycling. The EU Landfill Directive re- quires member states to reduce the share of municipal waste sent to landfill to 10% or less by 2035. From 2030, it also introduces restrictions on landfilling waste suitable for recycling or other re- covery. The planned waste-to-energy plant is intended to help Malta treat residual waste that cannot be prevented, reused or recycled. Its prolonged delay leaves ques- tions about how quickly the coun- try can reduce its dependence on landfill and meet its obligations under EU law. WasteServ has also sought to extend the lifespan of existing landfill capacity through engi- neered and vertical expansion, in- creasing the volume of waste that can be accommodated within existing sites. However, the min- istry's reply provided no figures on the remaining capacity or an estimate of when existing landfill space would be exhausted. The ministry's latest assurance that landfill capacity is sufficient for the years ahead, coupled with the absence of a new tender date, may reflect the success of interim measures to extend the lifespan of existing sites and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. However, it contrasts with the urgency expressed by successive environment ministers in previ- ous years as Malta grappled with dwindling landfill space. On 15 April 2020, former en- vironment minister Aaron Far- rugia had insisted that decisions on waste infrastructure could no longer be postponed. "Decisions in this sector can no longer be de- layed... landfilling is no longer an option, and it is a dead-end that has brought our country to where it is today," he said. The sense of urgency had already been evident in February 2018, when then environment minis- ter José Herrera warned that "the Għallis engineered landfill has not more than two years to be fully filled". He defended the immedi- ate selection of a site at Magħtab as a "bold... and environmentally responsible decision" intended to avert an imminent crisis. Reporting by James Debono No date for incinerator tender as government plays down landfill pressure The waste-to-energy plant is a central component of the government's ECOHIVE strategy, which aims to reduce Malta's reliance on landfilling by treating residual waste and recovering energy.