New recycling facility to open in Mqabba
4000 vehicles a year reach their end of life after falling victim to collisions or old age.
But apart from the various scrap yards which spoil the environment and pose a direct threat to the water table, Malta lacked any facility geared at recycling used.
It was only last month that MEPA approved a permit for such a site.
For the past four years Malta has been party to an EU directive obliging it re-use or re-use and recycle 80% of its used cars.
Yet no recycling was taking place because Malta lacked an end of life vehicle facility.
The End of Life Directive requires that cars are cleansed of any pollutants before they are recycled or re-used and that this process can only takes place at adequate sites.
Any recycling taking place in unauthorized scrap yards is simply illegal.
But in August MEPA issued a planning permit for Malta’s first facility for end of life
vehicles in a quarry at ta’Robba in Mqabba. The new plant will be able to recycle 2000 end of life cars.
“This facility is the first of its kind in Malta and will enable vehicles to be dismantled in an environmentally acceptable manner and in line with the requirement of the ELV Directive,” a spokesperson for MEPA said.
The new recycling plant lies on the aquifer protection zone and the environment impact statement for the project suggests various mitigation measures to prevent the leaching of dangerous chemicals in the water table.