‘Waste not want not’ : sustainable waste management in Malta

Abstract

The Maltese archipelago is situated in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea and comprises a number of islands. The main islands are Malta, Gozo and Comino. The three main islands are inhabited, while Filfa, Cominotto and St.Paul’s Islands and other lesser islands are uninhabited. The archipelago covers a total area of 315 km2 with a total coastline perimeter of 271 km and has a population of 413,609 with around 1,313 inhabitants per km2,1 making it one of Europe’s most densely populated countries.2 The post independence period (1964 onwards) was marked by a rapid growth in the areas occupied by settlement, accompanied by a decrease in the number of full time farmers and of registered cultivated land. The agricultural area declined by eighteen per cent between 1957 and 1983. New developments were often located and designed without any concern for topographical and landscape features. Major landmarks in the rural landscape such as windmills, churches and urban skylines were increasingly engulfed or mostly hidden by haphazard developments.