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 Management (Landfill) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020
Ministry: Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning
Entity: Environment & Resources Authority (ERA)
1. Background
The draft Waste Management (Landfill) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, transpose the provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/850 amending Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of 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 EU Directive on Landfills was transposed through the Waste Management (Landfill) Regulations, S.L. 549.29, wherein the Environment and Resources Authority is designated as the national competent authority.
2. Proposed amendments
The most substantive amendments brought about by the draft Waste Management (Landfill) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, relate to the new EU targets imposed on Malta through the amended Landfills Directive.
The new provisions state that by 2035, the amount of municipal waste landfilled is to be reduced to 10% or less of the total amount of municipal waste generated. This target may be postponed by up to five (5) years if certain conditions defined in the Directive are met.
Another remarkable amendment relates to the list of waste streams that cannot be accepted in a landfill, which now also includes waste that has been separately collected for preparing for re-use and recycling. Furthermore, an effort will be made to ensure that as of 2030, all waste suitable for recycling or other recovery shall not be accepted in a landfill.
In order to promote a shift towards a more circular economy, the amended legislation provides that economic instruments and other measures may be utilised to provide incentives for the application of the waste hierarchy.
3. Comments
The draft Waste Management (Landfill) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, may be viewed 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.
