- In 2022, the generation of municipal waste amounted to 328,394 tonnes, increasing by 12,070 tonnes or 3.8 per cent over 2021.
- When taking into account the net tourist equivalent population, the municipal waste generation per capita for 2022 amounted to 581 kilograms per person, declining by 2.0 per cent over 2021.
- During 2022, the total amount of treated municipal waste decreased by 6,644 tonnes or 2.1 per cent over that recorded in 2021, amounting to 317,280 tonnes. During 2022, the total amount of treated municipal waste decreased by 6,644 tonnes or 2.1 per cent over that recorded in 2021, amounting to 317,280 tonnes.
- The share that went to landfilling from the total treated municipal waste stood at 86.2 per cent, going up from 83.1 per cent that was recorded a year before.
- When compared to 2021, municipal waste that was recycled in 2022 decreased by 2,083 tonnes or 5.0 per cent to a total of 39,807 tonnes.
Municipal waste generation
In 2022, the generation of municipal waste amounted to 328,394 tonnes, increasing by 12,070 tonnes or 3.8 per cent over 2021. When viewed by waste type, in absolute terms, increases were most pronounced for mixed municipal waste (15,285 tonnes), other municipal waste (1,574 tonnes) and bulky waste (1,567 tonnes). On the other hand, the main decreases were registered for paper and cardboard (2,888 tonnes), bio-waste from kitchens and canteens (1,967 tonnes), and wood (1,202 tonnes) (Table 1).
Note: The gap in between the lines represents the Gross Value Added.
Chart 1. Municipal waste generation per capita (including net tourist equivalent population) by waste type
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Data on municipal waste generation by waste collection type shows that decreases were registered for the organic waste collection (2,678 tonnes), civic amenity sites (1,999 tonnes), other collection (593 tonnes), the green/grey bag collection (422 tonnes) and bring-in sites (265 tonnes). All the other collection types showed increases, of which the main ones were for the door-to-door collection of the black bag by local councils (10,659 tonnes), black bag collection from businesses and institutions (4,626 tonnes), and bulky waste collection from households, businesses, and institutions (1,567 tonnes) (Table 2). In 2022 the collection of separate waste fractions made up 27.9 per cent of the municipal waste generation, down from the 31.1 per cent that was registered in 2021 (Chart 2).
Chart 2. Municipal waste collection by type
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Note: Collection of separate waste fractions refers to a collection system where a waste stream is segregated by type and nature to facilitate a specific treatment. Separately collected wastes include single materials collections or multiple materials which are collected together for recycling such as in the case of the green/grey bag.
Indicators on the municipal waste generation per capita show that when the average population is taken into consideration, in 2022 each person generated 618 kilograms of waste, going up by 1.3 per cent over the previous year. However, when the net tourist equivalent population is factored in, it can be noted that the municipal waste generation for 2022 amounted to 581 kilograms per person. This figure shows a decrease of 2.0 per cent over 2021 mainly because of the higher number of tourists that visited Malta in 2022 (Table 3).
Municipal waste treatment
During 2022, the total amount of treated municipal waste decreased by 6,644 tonnes or 2.1 per cent over that recorded in 2021, amounting to 317,280 tonnes. The share that went to landfilling from the total treated municipal waste stood at 86.2 per cent, going up from 83.1 per cent that was recorded a year before. In absolute terms, landfilled municipal waste increased by 4,201 tonnes, with the main contributors to this increase being mixed municipal waste (2,678 tonnes), rejects that resulted from the mechanical treatment of waste (1,795 tonnes) and bulky waste (1,314 tonnes). In contrast, the landfilling of wood waste declined by 3,746 tonnes (Table 4).
When compared to 2021, municipal waste that was recycled decreased by 2,083 tonnes or 5.0 per cent to a total of 39,807 tonnes. Paper and cardboard was the most recycled material at 60.6 per cent of the total recycled waste. Increases in recycling were registered for paper and cardboard (10.4 per cent), bio-waste from kitchens and canteens (9.0 per cent) and waste electrical and electronic equipment (4.2 per cent). On the other hand, decreases were recorded for the recycling of clothes and textiles (97.2 per cent), metals (55.4 per cent), plastic (12.8 per cent) and glass (9.1 per cent). In 2022, municipal waste that underwent energy recovery treatment amounted to 4,099 tonnes, declining by 67.8 per cent over 2021 (Table 4).
Chart 3. Municipal waste treatment by treatment category
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Methodological Notes
1. Data for this news release is sourced from WasteServ Malta Ltd. and the Environment and Resources Authority. Data for 2022 should be considered as provisional.
2. Data presented in this news release is based on the methodology that is applied for the municipal waste data reporting which the NSO submits annually to Eurostat. This methodology follows the provisions as laid down in the document: ‘Guidance for the compilation and reporting of data on municipal waste according to Commission Implementing Decisions 2019/1004/EC and 2019/1885/EC, and the Joint Questionnaire of Eurostat and OECD’ version of 06/10/2023.
3. Revisions on 2021 data have been carried out following data updates in the National Waste Inventory that is sourced from the Environment and Resources Authority.
4. Municipal waste generation and treatment which is expressed in kilograms per capita, is worked out by means of data on the average population. The average population during a calendar year is calculated as the arithmetic mean of the population on 31 December of two consecutive years. It should be noted that Eurostat uses population data as on 1 January to calculate the average population and so the per capita figures in this release are not directly comparable to those of Eurostat.
5. Municipal waste generation per capita figures have been revised for all years in the time series. In previous editions of this news release the end-of-year population was taken into account when calculating these indicators. From this news release onwards the average population shall be used instead in order to follow the methodology that is used by Eurostat.
6. Municipal waste generation per capita (including net tourist equivalent population) is a national indicator that has been included in this news release since all the waste that is generated by tourists forms part of municipal waste. It is calculated by the following formula:
The inbound tourist equivalent population is calculated by dividing the total nights spent in Malta by tourists by the number of nights in the year. The outbound tourist equivalent population is calculated by dividing the total nights spent by Maltese residents abroad by the number of nights in the year.
7. Table 4 presents data for the four final treatment categories under which municipal waste that was treated from 2018 to 2022 can be classified. Data is inclusive of waste exports to overseas final treatment facilities occurring due to the limited waste treatment capacity in Malta.
8. The difference between municipal waste generation and municipal waste treatment occurs mainly as a result of moisture gains and losses in organic waste, variations in stocks of waste that are held in storage prior to the final treatment operation and waste that is exported for pre-treatment operations (consequently the final treatment operation is not known).
9. Definitions:
● Municipal waste: Waste that is generated from households as well as waste that is similar in nature and composition to household waste that is generated by businesses and institutions. This waste is collected by or on behalf of municipal authorities and disposed of through the waste management system.
● Bring-in sites: Collection depots for clean source segregated recyclable materials. Four types of materials are collected: glass, metals, plastic and paper/cardboard.
● Green/Grey bag collection: Door-to-door collection of mixed paper, metals and plastics from households on pre-determined weekdays. This service commenced in 2011.
● Glass collection: Door-to-door collection of glass from households on pre-determined days, usually taking place once a month. This service commenced in 2014.
● Black bag collection: Door-to-door collection of mixed waste primarily from households but also including waste from businesses and institutions on pre-determined weekdays. This bag should be used only for the disposal of residual waste which cannot be composted or recycled.
● Organic waste collection: Door-to-door collection of organic waste from households on pre-determined weekdays. This collection started as a pilot project covering a limited number of localities in 2015 and was extended nationally from the 31st October 2018 onwards.
● Disposal – landfill: Disposal of waste into or onto land, including specially engineered landfill, covered by Disposal codes D1, D5 and D12.
● Disposal – incineration: Incineration without energy recovery refers to the thermal treatment of waste and is considered as a disposal operation classified under code D10.
● Recovery – material recycling: Any waste recovery operations by which disposed materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes, except for use as fuel. These recovery operations are classified under codes R2 to R9 and R11.
● Recovery – energy recovery: Incineration with energy recovery is considered as a recovery operation whenever both the conditions and energy efficiency thresholds which are provided in the ‘Guidelines on the energy efficiency formula for incineration facilities’ related to the Waste Framework Directive are met. This treatment operation is classified under code R1.
10. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:
Statistical concepts
Metadata
Classifications
11. Statistics in this news release should be interpreted in the context of the COVID-19 situation.
12. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately.
13. A detailed news release calendar is available online.
14. For guidance on access and re-use of data please visit our dedicated webpage.
15. For further assistance, please submit your query through our online request form.
- In 2022, the generation of municipal waste amounted to 328,394 tonnes, increasing by 12,070 tonnes or 3.8 per cent over 2021.
- When taking into account the net tourist equivalent population, the municipal waste generation per capita for 2022 amounted to 581 kilograms per person, declining by 2.0 per cent over 2021.
- During 2022, the total amount of treated municipal waste decreased by 6,644 tonnes or 2.1 per cent over that recorded in 2021, amounting to 317,280 tonnes. During 2022, the total amount of treated municipal waste decreased by 6,644 tonnes or 2.1 per cent over that recorded in 2021, amounting to 317,280 tonnes.
- The share that went to landfilling from the total treated municipal waste stood at 86.2 per cent, going up from 83.1 per cent that was recorded a year before.
- When compared to 2021, municipal waste that was recycled in 2022 decreased by 2,083 tonnes or 5.0 per cent to a total of 39,807 tonnes.
