“Poorly managed waste contributes to climate change, contaminates the sea, limits quality of life, creates multiple nuisances, negatively impacts tourism and worse of all will leave a lousy future for our children to grow in,” WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca states.

When he took on his new role in 2020, he was immediately impelled by the Government’s plan to revitalise the sector, and together with his team is working relentlessly to address the challenge of waste management in Malta. An investment of €500 million to implement several ambitious projects combined with ground-breaking policy changes will revolutionise how waste is managed on the islands.

In the vanguard of Malta’s drive towards a circular economy, Mr Bilocca is committed to reducing, recycling and repurposing the country’s waste, mainly by turning it all into a resource. He is undeterred by the challenge of reducing the waste that currently goes into landfills from 90 per cent to a target of 10 per cent within the next decade. “Such a monstruous challenge is being matched with equally monstrous resources and political support, this makes us work with even more determination,” says Mr Bilocca.

‘’We are working hard to develop the required infrastructure in the shortest time possible to reduce reliance on landfills so that we turn our waste into resources. In Europe, facilities such as waste-to-energy facilities have been established for over 100 years. We have a lot of catching up to do,” he explains.  

“I would have been mad to come here if the ingredients required to attain the desired solutions were not on the table. I was excited to come to WasteServ and rise to the challenge. I don’t want to look at the past, but we need to look ahead, instead. The Government is incredibly supportive, and we have been provided the budget and the required policy decisions to achieve our goals to the best of our ability”.

The ECOHIVE project aims to process waste in the most sustainable and resource-efficient way. It includes a €500 million investment to develop five new facilities that will revolutionise the way Malta’s waste is processed.

The tender process to design, build and operate the Waste-to-Energy plant is at an advanced stage. This facility with a capital investment of around €200 million will be treating 192,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste yearly diverting it from the landfill. This plant will generate around five per cent of Malta’s base load energy requirements. The new Organic Processing Plant will also generate energy through the processing of an estimated 74,000 tonnes of organic waste per year that will be turned into biogas and agricultural compost.

Over €20million will be invested in a fully-fledged Material Recovery Facility. The plant will have the capacity to manage 70,000 tonnes of recyclable waste each year through an automated sorting process. Further investment is also planned to develop a cutting-edge Skip Management Facility that will process 47,000 tonnes of mixed bulky waste on an annual basis. Bulky waste will be separated into different waste streams while valuable materials are recovered to improve recycling rates. A new thermal treatment facility will process abattoir, clinical and other hazardous waste streams, replacing the existing Marsa facility.

Malta has for years been one of Europe’s lowest-performing nations in waste management and has the third highest waste per capita. In the last few years, a three-fold increase in recycling has already been achieved and the Maltese islands have now started climbing up the European scoresheets.

“We are implementing an aggressive strategy to spike our performance. Although we have improved drastically, we want to keep up with the best-performing countries. Our infrastructure will continue to improve over the next four years, and this will allow us to finally be amongst the best performers.”

To transform the recycling agenda, Mr Bilocca believes that a change in the public’s mindset is needed. Malta is becoming a throw-away society using too many disposables, he laments. ‘’Malta’s population has increased dramatically, the economy has improved, and people are now more driven by consumerism. Packaging waste, food waste, and single-use bottles have significantly increased.” Mr Bilocca is convinced that to reach the required targets, there is the need to reduce waste and to divert waste away from landfills. This will drastically improve recycling rates.  

“With these new facilities, we will have an excellent infrastructure to treat every waste stream as a resource. The problem is that most waste still arrives to us mixed so cooperation to segregate waste is necessary from the public, and from industry,” he adds.

WasteServ has invested in lengthy campaigns to educate the public about recyclables. Mr Bilocca believes that the public has responded very positively to the initiatives by WasteServ and is steadfast in his belief that continued education is essential to improve people’s attitude to waste. The public needs to be well informed and understand the consequences if bad practices carry on, he attests.    

The CEO also recognises that some sectors of society oppose change however he is encouraged as results are already very good with an improvement in the quality of grey bag equating to 50 per cent.  He is optimistic. ‘’When we go to schools, children already know the mantra to reduce, reuse and recycle”.  He adds that WasteServ has invested heavily in educating schoolchildren. Schools are visited on a regular basis, he shares, and an educational comic was given to every child earlier this year.  “We gave out board games and magnets,” he adds, “and created three life-sized fun mascots to support our campaign. There are many activities and educational material that children can have fun with. We owe it to them to protect the environment and give them a greener and cleaner future.”

Mr Bilocca notes that the manufacturing and retail sectors, and industrial food production, including catering, generate significant amounts of waste, adding that measures such as mandatory separation and increased gate fees for mixed waste will prove key to turn around the current situation.

Mr Bilocca points out that Malta’s gate fee is currently the lowest in Europe and that a review of charges was important to reflect the actual cost of waste management. He added: ‘’We did not introduce new gate fees to increase revenues but to stimulate good habits. Every business now has a direct incentive to start separating waste and end wasteful processes that are harmful for our environment and economy.”

From January 2023, private waste companies will have a compelling incentive to separate waste streams as the cost of mixed waste disposal will increase from the current rate of €20 to €40 per tonne. Over the course of five years, this will gradually increase by €20 each year until it reaches €120 per tonne, whereas the fees for organic waste and recyclables will remain unchanged

Businesses will need to do a self-audit to identify the amount of waste they are generating and to choose the best option to reduce, reuse or separate waste. However, the CEO regards the local business community as highly resourceful when it comes to innovation and urges companies to devote time and talent to set out a strategic plan to define how waste can be reduced or turned into resources.  

Under Mr Bilocca’s leadership, WasteServ has invested time in research to identify innovative ways to recycle waste. The sale of recyclables is up significantly and this year the exports of recyclables will generate revenues of around €1.7 million.

There is much potential in waste, he exclaims, illustrating his point by highlighting how businesses can convert plastic waste to produce composite boards to replace timber or building blocks. Innovations surrounding recycling have been plenty, such as the conversion of plastic waste into clothing materials. Old wood and other organic materials can also be converted, into combustible fuel used in heating systems, furnaces and baker’s ovens.

WasteServ's CEO is an enthusiastic advocate of recycling. Indeed, he speaks of the proliferation of TV shows that focus on recycling and reusing old materials. He says that today there is no excuse with the easy access to retail outlets and online portals offering ‘pre-loved items’ whilst also mentioning WasteServ’s brand new reuse shops. He mentions his own children and recalls building a swing with them very recently from abandoned items unfortunately found in the countryside. ‘’It meant we did not have to buy a new swing that would one day enter the waste stream, the children were occupied for six hours and they are so proud of their achievement, especially of the fact that we gathered all the materials ourselves through a mini-clean-up”.  

Mr Bilocca also advocates clean energy and the impact that emissions have on the environment.  

He concludes: “Everything we use comes from somewhere, and when we are done with it, it ends up somewhere else. Disposing of it becomes someone else’s problem.” Mr Bilocca challenges each business, industry and individual to make sustainable choices that will also contribute to reducing our demand for new products and new purchases. Every little effort makes a difference whether it is reducing food waste, segregating waste or being creative with new ideas to recycle everything.