PRESS RELEASE BY THE
MINISTRY FOR THE ECONOMY, INVESTMENT AND SMALL BUSINESSES AND BY THE MINISTRY
FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE AND PLANNINGGiving new value to
construction waste and incentivising recycling and the use of reconstituted
stone—Government to support the commercialisation of reconstituted stone, the
new alternative for limestone, bricks and concrete
Measures to help property
prices remain affordable and a better safeguard of the environment
“Our economy needs to be
transformed from one based on a linear model to a circular one, a switch which
needs to be taken throughout all strata of our economy.”
This was said by Minister for the
Economy, Investment and Small Businesses Silvio Schembri while addressing the
‘Closing the Circle’ Malta Industrial Parks Business Breakfast with the
support of the Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses. The
aim of the business breakfast was to generate awareness amongst stakeholders
and developers on the reuse of construction waste by shedding light on the
commercialisation of reconstituted stone, which has been for the past 10 years
researched by Professor Buhagiar.
Minister Schembri emphasised that
it is no secret that Malta has a monumental problem with the disposal of
construction waste, topped with the recent doubling of dumping charges, which
has placed a bigger burden on developers both small and big. “The increase in
property prices due to excessive increase in dumping charges could be well
neutralising the assistance given to our young families through the first and
second time buyer reduced tax schemes. Besides one must remark that the natural
limestone extracted from our quarries is a finite resource and is reaching its
end”, remarked Minister Schembri.
Whilst appealing to the
stakeholders and developers to challenge the status quo, Minister Schembri said
that in view of the challenging scenario an immediate solution is needed, hence
once commercialised, reconstituted stone can become a valuable viable
alternative. Reconstituted stone – a project researched by the University
of Malta and supported by Malta Industrial Parks – takes full advantage of
construction and demolition as a secondary raw material in order to create a
new ‘stone’ which can be utilised in the construction of buildings as an
alternative to limestone, bricks and concrete.
Minister Schembri unveiled three
measures that will be pushed for the use of reconstituted stone through
conjoint efforts between entities such as Malta Enterprise and Malta Industrial
Parks. The three measures are:
- Provide the necessary resource to have
the concept of reconstituted stone develop further, refined and make it
ready for commercialisation as soon as possible;
- Help the industry commercialise the
concept of the product through investment assistance schemes for those
interested to take recycling of construction waste as an investment
opportunity and establish new methods to increase construction development
efficiency through the production of reconstituted stone;
- Incentivise those developers who
recycle their construction waste and use reconstituted stone in their
projects.
Minister Schembri explained that
the commercialisation of reconstituted stone will:
- mean the creation of a new, more
efficient and more sustainable building resource;
- give new value to construction waste
for the owner/developer and those who have it in landfills;
- lessen property development costs and
bring along more competitive prices for buyers, especially first-time
buyers;
- a drastic reduction in the need to dump
construction waste in landfills, hence we can make better use of current
landfills and avoid taking up more virgin land for new or extended
landfills;
“All in all, at the inception of
this revolution, Malta can serve as a prototype, a referral point for the
adoption of circular economy concepts within a European context. Circular
economy is no longer an abstract idea but one which needs to be implemented
soon”, reiterated Minister Schembri
The Malta Industrial Parks
Business Breakfast was addressed by Minister for the Environment Climate Change
and Planning Aaron Farrugia said that while it is important to maintain the
country’s positive economic performance, development needs to be sustainable,
and needs to give due regard to social wellbeing and environmental
protection.
“The need to transition towards a
circular economy is party motivated by the concern that natural resources, such
as land and stone, are finite, and need to remain in the economic cycle for the
longest time possible. Such a transition should not be seen as a barrier to
growth – on the contrary, it should be seen as a catalyst for innovation, new
business niches and more green jobs”, said Minister Aaron Farrugia.
He also stressed the importance
of such a transition within one of Malta’s most important economic sectors:
construction, and that to this end, the draft strategy on Construction and
Demolition waste, for which a public consultation was launched, was closed a
couple of weeks ago.
Photos: DOI/MEIB/MECP