Mellieha
A hillside town in the far north above Malta's best sandy beach, with the quietest large-scale tourism on the island.
Bins out from
3am
Collection starts
7am
Council region
Northern Region
What it is like.
Mellieha village sits high on a ridge, with the bay and its sand a long descent below. The gap between the two is real: staying in the village and swimming at the bay means a bus or a car each way.
The locality reaches up to Armier and the north-east coast, and includes Ghadira, the island's largest sandy beach and a bird reserve.
Getting around
Buses to Valletta and to the Gozo ferry at Cirkewwa. A car makes the difference here.
Worth going for.
- Ghadira Bay
- Malta's largest sandy beach, and a nature reserve behind it.
- The Mellieha ridge and parish church
- Views across the north and out to Gozo and Comino.
- Popeye Village
- The 1980 film set at Anchor Bay, now a family attraction.
Running a short let in Mellieha.
The sign at the door
Bags out
Which bag, which day.
The day schedule is national and has not changed since 2 January 2023. Only the collection time varies by locality, and in Mellieha it is 7am.
Monday
Food and garden wasteWhite bag
Tuesday
General rubbishBlack bag
Wednesday
Food and garden wasteWhite bag
Thursday
RecyclingGrey or green bag
Friday
Food and garden wasteWhite bag
GlassReusable container, not a bag
Glass on the first and third Friday of the month only.
Saturday
General rubbishBlack bag
Sunday
No collection
Not the night before
Bags may go out up to 4 hours before collection, so from 3am in Mellieha. Putting them out earlier, including the evening before, is an offence rather than a habit.
Fines of up to €300 have been reported for bags out more than 4 hours early, and up to €150 for the wrong day or the wrong bag. Enforcement is shared between LESA, the police and the local council. The Malta Independent. If your welcome pack says the night before, it is telling guests to do the thing that gets fined, and a waste breach established by another authority can reach your licence.
A missed collection
Northern Region covers Il-Mellieha, not us. Email [email protected] or call 21572770.
Where this comes from
Published by ERA and WasteServ on wastecollection.mt. Last checked against the source on 3 August 2026. Bags may go out up to 4 hours before collection.
The week on one sheet, for Mellieha
A landscape page with the seven days across it and the bag drawn on each, carrying the collection time and how early bags may go out. For the back of a cupboard door.
Bottles and cans carry a deposit.
Drinks containers sold in Malta carry a deposit of 10c, added at the till. It covers single-use cans and bottles holding between 0.1 and 3 litres, in aluminium, steel, glass or PET.
The deposit comes back as a voucher, taken off the bill at a retail shop. A container dropped in the grey or green recycling bag gives it up, and a guest checking out at the end of a stay usually has a fortnight of them in the flat.
BCRS Malta Ltd runs the scheme and puts over 300 return machines in supermarkets, larger beverage retailers and public recycling hubs. It does not publish them as a list, so its own finder is the only current source for which machine is nearest Mellieha.
Published by BCRS Malta Ltd on bcrsmalta.mt. Last checked against the source on 8 August 2026. The scheme has run since 14 November 2022.
Getting to the airport.
The X1 to X4 airport buses were withdrawn on 20 April 2025 and replaced by Airport Direct. Listings and guidebooks still send guests to the X2 and the X3, which no longer run.
Airport Direct
- TD1
- Rabat, Bugibba, Mellieha and Cirkewwa. Runs every hour, at €3.50, and free with an Unlimited Travel Card. No booking: pay on board by cash or card.
Routes and fares published by Malta Public Transport, and the ordinary routes that call at the terminal by Malta International Airport. Last checked against both on 8 August 2026. Times are not repeated here because they change with the season, so take them from the journey planner on the day.