Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/977918
maltatoday SUNDAY 6 MAY 2018 News 7 WIN €1000 Every month when using Findit.com.mt DIRECTORY | DEALS | QUOTES | REVIEWS Next time... use Findit! Freddie tried to cut costs by fixing the toilet himself. It didn't end well. JAMES DEBONO THE life of the Ghallis landfill – only recently tipped to expire within two years – will be ex- tended by another year through engineering works. The engineered landfill has taken in most of Malta's domestic waste for decades, but the island risks running out of space to dispose of its garbage, as it deals with the consequences of larger waste generation on the back of increased population and economic growth. Malta is generating an average of 600kg of waste for each inhabitant as the island's popula- tion spiked to over 433,000 in recent years. But while the Cabinet was recently told that the landfill will be running out of space by 2020, environmental studies indicate that no further extensions can be carried out within this site af- ter a new extension. The studies are aimed at finding a way to pro- long the life of the landfill by another year to 2021. The most recent extension to the landfill was approved in 2013. This will be achieved through engineering works which will extend the Ghallis landfill's lifetime by around nine to 12 months, increas- ing empty space in the landfill by 350,000 cubic metres. Studies included in a project development statement outlining the latest plans reveal that the remaining empty space at the Ghallis landfill is expected to be "filled rapidly", given current waste deposition rates – an average of 21,500 tonnes per month during 2016. With this in mind the landfill will be extended again before the development of an incinerator, which is being proposed to burn 40% of house- hold waste after 2022. The limited space available at the Ghallis non- hazardous landfill is described "as the most sig- nificant waste management issue at the national level." The project will create a freestanding retain- ing wall by using compacted waste, using lin- ing materials and engineered reinforcement. This wall will have a steeper profile than that currently in place, but will not result in an in- crease in height over that approved in previ- ous permits. In its reaction to the proposed plans the En- vironment and Resources Authority lamented the absence of a comprehensive plan for the Magħtab waste management complex. The ERA expressed its concern that ad hoc site- specific commitments, in the absence of a more holistic picture, may end up displacing other interventions related to the waste management complex itself onto undeveloped lands nearby. The ERA is now requesting the submission of a long-term strategy plan for the Magħtab waste management complex. Malta is ranked sixth amongst the top EU countries that generate the most waste per in- habitant. Additionally, 87% of all waste is going to a landfill while just 8% is being recycled. Malta is the EU country that has the highest rate of landfilling, with Ghallis having been for decades used as a disposal area for the incin- eration of waste before being turned into an engineered landfill. Indeed, only 0.4% of waste in Malta is now incinerated, while some 3.6% is treated by composting. A Maltese court has ordered a company owned by Libya's defence ministry to cough up €650,000 for two jets currently grounded in Malta. The legal action was filed against Libya's EACS (Executive Authority for Air Cargo and Special Flights), which falls under the authority of the Libyan defence ministry, by Asemar Aviation and Cargo Ser- vices Limited, which are based in Malta but headed by Libyan na- tional Anwar Abuzikri. EACS is run by Shaker Own, who was appointed as its head by the Tobruk administration. Ase- mar said €650,000 in services to EACS between 2013 and 2015 were never paid. Among the bills was a €140,000 VIP flight between Miti- ga and Paris in May 2014. Asemar applied for the seizure, as security, of one of EACS's two Bombardier jets laid up in Malta. Since July 2017, the two aircraft have also been at the heart of a legal battle between EACS and United Aviation Company (UAC), which is headed by Ali Elshanti. UAC claims it is the legitimate owner of the two aircraft. Libyan defence ministry told to pay for VIP jets grounded in Malta 'Full-up' landfill gets one-year extension The engineered landfill has taken in most of Malta's domestic waste for decades