Are plastic bottles burned in Malta?

cHi MaltaCommando,

sadly that is true.

But not only in Malta but in all countries most of the plastic bottles are not recycled and made into new bottles or other products but used as by-fuel in waste incinerating plants ( which don't exist in Malta. So Wasteserve Malta probably sells them to other countries.

As we all need electricity I don't think there is a big difference in burning oil in a power station or burning plastic bottles (made out of oil) to produce electricity.

The environmentally best way is to avoid waste and/or use reusable PET bottles (like in Germany)or glas bottles or even cans and to save on electricity as much as possible.

In modern waste incinerating plants dioxins are avoided by applying technical and chemical processes and filtering the flue gas (what comes out of the chimney.

Cheers
Ricky

ricky wrote:

So Wasteserve Malta probably sells them to other countries.

Malta sell them to the incineration plant in Sicily which is connected to the Ragusa power station ... and from this power station in Sicily an interconnecting submarine power cable is planned to supply Malta (Terminal Station in Maghtab) with necessary electricity ... and finally be able to shutting off the old Marsa power station ... funny, uuh ;-)

Hi mat,

thanks for the additional info ! Now we know where our plastic bottles are burnt.....

Cheers
Ricky

Thanks a lot for the confirmation.

One more question, is the ragusa power plant modern and efficient or they let anything into the air?

I think I will try to find some utility for the bottles like making a home made boat(if I find a way to glue the bottles or unite them with something).

By the way is there any brand of water sold in glass recipients in Malta?

I hope the electric bill goes down in price but only if it is produced with a minimum of ecologic sense.

MaltaCommando wrote:

I think I will try to find some utility for the bottles like making a home made boat(if I find a way to glue the bottles or unite them with something).

Good idea! I have the same thoughts.

I don't think there's any environmental friendly industrial facility in all over Southern Europe
Even Sicily has it's own huge waste problem, and since you cannot make money in separating or recycling waste, there are huge landfills in Sicily as well.

Malta sell it's already separated and therefore valuable waste to the best bidder. And due to the short distance to Sicily, they preferably buy and re-use the plastic bottles, scrap metal, filter cake from wastewater treatment plants etc. and store their own mixed domestic and industrial waste in landfills.
Collection, separation and landfilling is a governmental obligation (financed with taxes), making money with trading, re-using, etc. is task of private companies  

HERE you can find some Waste Tips

Best to avoid plastic bottles is to install a RO-Unit in your flat (under the sink) or buy at least the 5-liter bottles resp. the big 19-liter containers for water dispensers.
btw, during (hot) summer you can carry (cold) water in (taste-neutral) stainless steel thermos-bottles.

Is interesting this about RO units, but the purified water is really good for health? I've never heard about them, I've just seen what they are googling a bit. What is the normal price range?

I saw this recently and thought it looked attractive and a great idea too:
http://www.dothegreenthing.com/blog/gro … ic_bottles

Waste incineration in Malta: KLICK
Toxic waste dumping in Malta: KLICK

well, it's still a long way to go ...

matm911 wrote:

Best to avoid plastic bottles is to install a RO-Unit in your flat (under the sink) or buy at least the 5-liter bottles resp. the big 19-liter containers for water dispensers.
btw, during (hot) summer you can carry (cold) water in (taste-neutral) stainless steel thermos-bottles.

Good points and I know some people have difficulty with the taste of the tap water but given a chance could get used to it.
I will be hiring a water chiller for room temp and chilled water with the large bottles delivered. I understand these are reused?