COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Malta Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling targets on municipal waste
Date: 2018-09-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Malta, application of EU law, circular economy, environmental law, environmental protection, pollution control, prevention of pollution, waste, waste management

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.9.2018 SWD(2018) 421 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Malta Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling targets on municipal waste {COM(2018) 656 final} - {SWD(2018) 413 final} - {SWD(2018) 414 final} - {SWD(2018) 415 final} - {SWD(2018) 416 final} - {SWD(2018) 417 final} - {SWD(2018) 418 final} - {SWD(2018) 419 final} - {SWD(2018) 420 final} - {SWD(2018) 422 final} - {SWD(2018) 423 final} - {SWD(2018) 424 final} - {SWD(2018) 425 final} - {SWD(2018) 426 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction 

This early warning report is part of the Commission's overall implementation report and aims 
to assist Member States at risk of failing to meet the 2020 target of 50 % preparation for re-
use/recycling of municipal waste set out in Article 11(2)(a) of Directive 2008/98/EC. It builds 
on  previous  support  provided  by  the  Commission  to  help Member  States  comply1  with  EU 
law in the area of municipal waste management. This resulted in country-specific roadmaps2 
being drawn up for the relevant Member States.  

The  assessment  underpinning  the  early  warning  report  is  based  on  a  collaborative  and 
transparent process involving the Member States concerned and an in-depth analysis of their 
most  recent  policy  developments.  This  also  involved  extensive  consultation  with  the 
authorities in charge of waste management.  

The possible actions identified during this process are based on the existing best practices and 
aim  to  help  Member  States  in  meeting  the  2020  municipal  waste  preparation  for  re-
use/recycling target; they therefore focus on policy measures that can be taken forward in the 
short  term.  These  actions  should  be  seen  as  complementary  to  those  recommended  in  the 
roadmaps that were drawn up as part of the preceding compliance promotion activities and to 
the recommendations made in the Environmental Implementation Review3. 

2.  Key findings 

In  2016,  the  municipal  waste  recycling  rate  (including  composting)  reported  by  Malta  to 
Eurostat  was  7  %,  while  the  landfill  rate  was  83 %.  Based  on  an  analysis  of  existing  and 
firmly planned policies in the area of waste management, Malta is considered to be at risk of 
missing the 2020 target of 50 % preparation for re-use/recycling of municipal waste. 

The  assessment4  that  underpins  the  early  warning  report  concludes  that  Malta  still  faces 
serious  difficulties  in  its  implementation  of  EU  waste  law,  mainly  due  to  lack  of 
infrastructure and collection systems for recyclables and bio-waste. Progress is also hampered 
by the lack of coordination between different administrative levels and insufficient capacity 
at  the  local  level,  and  more  generally  by  a  lack  of  incentives  (including  economic 
instruments)  to  prevent  waste  and  improve  recycling.  Moreover,  the  extended  producer 
responsibility  (EPR)  scheme  for  packaging  in  Malta,  along  with  its  monitoring  and 
enforcement, have been somewhat ineffective. 

The table below lists possible actions to support Malta’s efforts to improve its performance in 
waste management. 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/support_implementation.htm 
2 Roadmap for Malta: 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/pdf/facsheets%20and%20roadmaps/Roadma_Malta.pdf 
3 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/country-reports/index2_en.htm 
4 Eunomia Research & Consulting et al. (2018) ‘Study to identify Member States at risk of non-compliance with 
the 2020 target of the Waste Framework Directive and to follow up phases 1 and 2 of the compliance 
promotion exercise. The early warning report: Malta.’ 

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OVERVIEW OF POSSIBLE ACTIONS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE 

Responsibility for waste collection and data management 

1)  Amendment  of  the  Local  Councils  Act  on  responsibility  for  waste  and  recycling, 
clarifying  the  role  of  Wasteserv  and  other  stakeholders  in  household  waste  collection 
systems (including packaging and bio-waste), including by:  

  making the local councils responsible for the collection of all household waste. 

This would include residual, recycling and organic waste.  

  clarifying  the  roles  and  responsibilities  alongside  funding  obligations.  This 
their  financing)  provided  by  producer 
would  allow 
responsibility  organisations  (PROs),  local  councils,  Wasteserv  and  commercial 
operators to be better coordinated. 

the  services  (and 

2)  Setting  out  reporting  requirements  on  local  councils  for  waste  managed  within  their 
locality, including requirement to report data on household waste and recycling, as well 
as  any  commercial  or  other  waste  streams  they  manage.  This  would  allow  poor 
performers to be identified more easily for better targeted actions. It would also enable 
underperforming councils to be held to account.  

3)  Implementation  of  a  programme  to  prevent  commercial  businesses  from  free-riding 

within household waste collection services, including: 

 

 an  obligation  on  local  councils  to  provide/arrange  for  the  collection  of 
commercial waste from premises within their locality if requested to do so. 
  an adequate service charge to be paid by the businesses for waste collection and 

disposal to the authority or company that arranges it. 

4)  Compilation of independent data on household waste and commercial waste recycling, 
while  ascribing  any  recyclate  losses  at  sorting  facilities  as  accurately  as  possible  to 
either commercial or household sources. 

5)  Conducting  a  major  audit  of  collection  performance  to  identify  system  inefficiencies 

preventing higher yields of recyclables. 

Separate collection 

6)  Development  of  national  minimum  service  standards  for  waste  collection  (including 
bio-waste)  to  specify,  for  example,  the  type  and  volume  of  containers,  minimum  and 
maximum frequency of collection and type of vehicle used, taking into account the type 
of housing stock, typical climate, etc. 

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Technical support to local councils 

7)  Development  of  a  system  at  national  level  that  provides  technical  support  for  local 

councils, specifically in the following areas: 

a.  choosing collection services;  
b.  service procurement; 
c.  service management; 
d.  communication campaigns; 

coupled with active sharing of good ideas and practices that can improve efficiency in 
terms of cost reduction and improvement in performance.. 

Communication and awareness raising 

8)  Development of a set of national communications materials addressed to the public for 
use at local level, with clear and consistent messages, and with particular focus on bio-
waste.  These  materials  should  be  used  as  part  of  awareness-raising  campaigns,  in 
leaflets and at civic amenity sites. 

Economic incentives for households and local councils 

9)  Introduction of complementary economic incentives for households in the form of pay-

as-you-throw schemes. 

10) Introduction of ‘top-down’ mandatory recycling targets for local councils, in addition to 
minimum standards of service, as an incentive for councils to take the appropriate care 
to  implement  and  operate  high-quality  recycling  services  and  meet  their  targets, 
accompanied by specific fines for non-compliance, e.g. by significantly increasing the 
landfill tax or applying non-compliance fees to every tonne of waste disposed of above 
the target level. 

Spending of EU funds 

11) In terms of funding requirements in the coming years, the specific focus should be on 
projects supporting  higher levels  in  the waste hierarchy, including  separate collection, 
bio-waste treatment plants and sorting facilities. 

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes 

12) Detailed market monitoring by the Environment and Resources Authority (or via  third-
party  annual  audits)  to  audit  all  producers  and  gain  a  much  clearer  understanding  of 
packaging waste (and other waste streams). 

13) Strengthening  the  regulator’s  capacity  to  enable  better  enforcement  of  producer 

registration and fee collection, including for imported packaging. 

14) Thorough review of EPR schemes to identify shortcomings in the current system (and 
also  to  assess  it  in  the  light  of  new  general  minimum  requirements  for  EPR  schemes 
laid down in the revised Waste Framework Directive). 

15) Consideration of increasing the packaging targets to be met by PROs. 

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16) Ensuring  that  the  costs  of  collection  and  recycling  or  disposal  of  packaging  are  fully 
covered by packaging waste producers. This would help to reduce the burden on local 
authorities  related  to  the  funding  required  for  the  separate  collection  and  onward 
management of waste. 

17) Implementation  of  a  deposit  refund  system  for  beverage  containers  in  line  with  the 

government's planning. 

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