WasteServ Malta Limited used to operate the Sant’ Antnin Waste Treatment and Composting, which is located in Marsascala. Ever since it was commissioned in 1993, it had been beset with a series of technical and environmental problems, and the quality of the finished product was unsatisfactory. The reason being that although it was designed for a throughput of 80,000 tonnes per annum, the plant barely treated more than 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes per annum.

AIS Environment, together with SLR Consulting Limited, carried out the baseline studies for the Environmental Impact Assessment for the Sant’Antnin Recycling and Composting Plant for the treatment of non-hazardous non-inert domestic waste. This study included Archaeology and Cultural Heritage; Geology, Hydrology and Hydrogeology; Landscape and Visual Impact; Ecology; Traffic Impact Statement; Agriculture and Soils; Noise; Air Quality; and Social Economic.

The studies focused on the proposed upgrading of the composting facility into a facility equipped with a digestion / composting facility to treat 35,000 tonnes of biodegradable material and a material recovery facility to treat 36,000 tonnes of recyclable material.

Most concerns of this re-development were that the development site lies within the base of the drainage feature Wied iz-Ziju and Wied Sant’Antnin, which could have result in the potential for surface water run-off from the surrounding upstream catchment areas draining towards the site. However, on the other hand, the project provided a modern and managed means by which to manage Malta’s waste, reducing the amount of waste requiring landfill, and producing useful materials, including compost.