As from the 14th of April, waste separation will be enforceable by law for everyone, including businesses, governmental and non-governmental entities as well as private homes, the Environment and Resources Authority has said.

Between April and October, the authorities will be conducting an educational campaign for the public to familiarise themselves with these new regulations.

Throughout this period, persons caught disposing of waste inappropriately will receive a warning.

The ERA said that after the lapse of these six months, whoever is caught disposing of waste inadequately will be fined €75 for businesses and €25 for households. These fines will double to €150 and €50 respectively if the individual is caught repeatedly disposing of waste inappropriately.

This means that the public will no longer be allowed to dispose of organic waste in the black bag as this will now have to be put into the designated white bag.

The same applies to recyclable waste such as plastic and paper and other materials which have to be separated and disposed of in the grey bag designated for recycling.

Glass will no longer be allowed to be put in the black or grey bag but must instead be separated and taken out for municipal door-to-door collection by itself every first and third Friday of the month, as per existing municipal waste collection schedule.

ERA said that its officials and officials from other entities will be carrying out continuous inspections in all localities to assure that the waste that is being deposited for door-to-door collection is separated in line with the regulations, in the the appropriate bags taken out on the correct days.

This follows a new schedule that was introduced in January by the regional councils, who are responsible for waste collection from households on behalf of the local councils.

In addition to door-to-door waste collection, residents in Malta and Gozo can also continue to use other methods, including taking recyclable waste in the I-bins and bring in sites in every locality or in the roadshow truck and the civic amenity sites operated by Wasteserv, as well making use of the free bulky waste collection service offered by the local councils.

More information on how to separate waste can be found by clicking here

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