Waste (Amendment) Regulations, 2020


CONSULTATION BRIEF

Start date: 5 October 2020

Closing date: 2 November 2020 (Closing date extended to 16th November 2020)

Title of the public consultation: Waste (Amendment) Regulations, 2020

Ministry: Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning

Entity: Environment & Resources Authority (ERA)


1. Background

The draft Waste (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, transpose the majority of the provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/851 amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste. This directive forms part of the “Waste Legislative Package”, which is composed of four (4) directives, adopted in 2018 as part of the Circular Economy Action Plan. The overarching aim of this Waste Legislative Package is to improve waste management within the EU, in order to move further towards a true circular economy.

At the national level, the Waste Framework Directive was transposed through the Waste Regulations, S.L. 549.63, wherein the Environment and Resources Authority is designated as the competent authority. These regulations form the framework for waste legislation at the national level and outline certain overarching principles and obligations, such as the application of the waste hierarchy, and the principles of self-sufficiency and proximity.

 

2. Proposed amendments

The amendments brought about by the proposed draft Waste (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, mainly focus on better implementation of the waste hierarchy at the national level. The proposed regulations provide for the use of economic instruments and other measures to provide incentives for the application of the waste hierarchy. In this context, measures shall be taken to prevent waste generation as well as to ensure that waste undergoes preparing for re-use, recycling or other recovery operations. Malta shall also be obliged to collect and report data on food waste as well as reuse activities.

The draft Legal Notice also establishes new targets for re-use and recycling in line with Directive 2018/851. Such targets, which are also coupled with stricter calculation rules, require that the preparing for re-use and the recycling of municipal waste shall be increased to a minimum of:
a) 55% by weight by 2025;
b) 60% by weight by 2030; and
c) 65% by weight by 2035.

The achievement of these targets may be placed on the Local Councils and/or Regional Councils, or on both. The achievements of these targets may be postponed for up to five years in line with the procedure set out in the Directive.

Furthermore, and in order to promote separation of waste, Local Councils are to set up systems for the separate collection of certain waste streams, and to allocate space for the Packaging Waste Recovery Organisations to provide bring-in sites, with penalties imposed for non-compliance by Local Councils. By 2025, systems for the separate collection of hazardous waste fractions produced by households and textiles shall also be set up.

Additionally, the proposed regulation 18A on bio-waste requires measures to be taken to ensure that by 2023, bio-waste is either separated and recycled at source, or is collected separately and is not mixed with other types of waste.

Other notable amendments include:

  • New definition for ‘Municipal Waste’ is being introduced for legal clarity;
  • Provisions on end-of-waste criteria have been amended, clarifying the procedure to be followed and the information to be provided by the applicant; and
  • Requirement for the establishment of electronic registries or coordinated registries for traceability of municipal waste.

 

3. Comments

The draft Waste (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, may be viewed from here: EN and MT.

Any comments are to be submitted to ERA by 2nd November 2020 (Closing date extended to 16th November 2020) at the latest, on the following email address: [email protected].

We thank you in advance for your input.

 

Publication of information

Please be informed that comments submitted, together with the identity of the contributor, may be published online at the end of the public consultation, unless the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal data. In this case, the contribution may be published in anonymous form.