National reform programme 2008-2010 Malta - European Commission

The main plant of Sant Antnin is being constructed to improve treatment of MSW. Upon the
completion of the upgrade of the Sant’ Antnin Waste Treatment Plant, it is envisaged that the
plant will annually process and treat 71,000 32 tonnes of waste mainly resulting from the MSW
produced by residents in the vicinity. The fully enclosed upgraded plant will include the
following facilities: a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for the manual sorting of dry recyclable
waste recovered by the separation at source, a Mechanical Treatment Plant (MTP) to
mechanically separate the MSW, a Digestion and Stabilising (Composting) Plant, a
Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP), a Regenerative Thermal Oxidiser (RTO) and a
Waste acceptance station for the collection of data and control waste deposit at this site.
It is envisaged that this plant will be operational in the 1 st quarter of 2009.
Measure 5.12
Promote use of bio-fuels through exemption from excise duties on importation; pilot collection
scheme for the collection of used cooking oil
Government has lowered tax on bio-fuels by 1% when compared to other fuels. During 2007,
three companies were active in the Maltese bio-fuel market. Two companies produced
biodiesel, one from recycled spent cooking oil and the other from imported raw material,
whilst the third company recycled spent cooking oil for use as pure vegetable oil being
marketed as a substitute for fossil fuel.
All three companies retailed both to the transport and to the industry sector. One of the
companies retailed pure biodiesel (B100) through petroleum filling stations in Malta. This
proved very successful and in 2007 the number of stations retailing pure biodiesel continued
to increase. Around 40% 33 of the total petroleum filling stations are now retailing biodiesel to
consumers. Table 1 below shows the percentage of road transport fuels in Malta during 2007
and the share of biofuels.
Table 1 - Use of road transport fuels in Malta during 2007 and the share of Biofuels
Type of fuel
Million Litres
Petrol 87.392 43.68
Diesel 98.471 56.32
Total Fossil Fuel sales 185.863 100
Pure Vegetable Oil 0.038 0.02
Biodiesel 2.022 1.06
Total Biofuel Sales 2.060 1.08
Measure 5.13
% of total Petrol and
Diesel sales
Measure to encourage the greater utilisation of non-conventional sources of water
Government has been looking at various means of reducing the dependency on desalination
plants as the main source of water in the islands. Desalination is the only option currently
available however it is also substantially expensive both in financial and environmental terms.
Studies are currently being conducted to establish the feasibility of capturing the storm water
resulting in certain areas of the islands. The storm water infrastructure has been approved in
order to alleviate the flooding problems; however the costs and feasibility to store this excess
storm water and to promote its re-use for secondary usage still need to be established. This
measure will continue within the next NRP cycle.
32 The 71,000 tonnes of waste treated is made up of 36,000 tonnes of dry recyclables and 35,000 tonnes of organic
waste. Figures available online from: http://www.wasteservmalta.com/main.asp?ID=18&TAB=Tab5
33 Malta’s Annual Report for 2007 submitted to fulfil requirements of Article 4 of Directive 2003/30/EC on the
promotion of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport, Malta Resources Authority August 2008.
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