Updated 1.50pm with PN statement
Robert Abela lashed out at the company responsible for Malta's bottle recycling scheme, saying the company running the BCRS system should improve its service instead of increasing tariffs.
"I expected them to improve their efficiency, not demand higher tariffs," the prime minister said after it was revealed that BCRS had significantly raised the administrative fees for beverage producers and importers.
“If they persist in this direction and if it leads to an increase in prices, be assured that I will be on the side of the people,” Abela said.
The increased fees will kick in on Saturday and will apply to all containers subject to the BCRS-run beverage collection and recycling scheme.
Rate increases range from a 54% hike per bottle for coloured glass containers to a 143% increase in the cost charged to process aluminium containers (from 0.7c/0.74c per container to 1.7c/1.8c).
Costs to process plastic and steel containers will also rise by amounts ranging from 62% to 111%. The price increases were communicated to producers and importers in December but only came to public attention following reports that the price of bottled water was poised to increase by 7c per bottle due to a new “eco-tax”.
It remains to be seen whether the increase in BCRS administrative fees will lead to higher drinks prices for consumers. Beverage producers and consumers could opt to absorb the fee increases as operational costs. Or they could raise the prices of their products, effectively passing on those costs to end users.
The prime minister said the government has held multiple meetings with the consortium overseeing the scheme to address consumer concerns about the company's service.
“We have offered a number of possibilities of what can be done, but until now, there has not been an agreement,” he said.
Abela said that people have repeatedly come forward over “the inconveniences they suffered because they were obeying environmental regulations”.
BCRS, a not-for-profit consortium, made up of the country’s biggest beverage producers, run Malta’s bottle recycling scheme.
Since the system was introduced in 2022, disposable bottles are sold with a premium of 10c, which can be returned as a voucher when deposited at a reverse vending machine (RVM) run by BCRS.
However, RVM users who deposit large quantities of disposable containers at once often complain that the machines are frequently full or out of order.
The company blamed rising operational costs for the decision saying the increase in fees is necessary to ensure the scheme is financially sustainable.
But, on Wednesday evening, Abela hit back at the claim.
“What sustainability means for them is that maybe they are not making enough profit as much as they anticipated because the people are abiding,” Abela said.
“People are abiding and recycling, this means that maybe their (BCRS) profits decrease,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PN challenged government to reassure consumers that they will not bear the burden of increases in BCRS administrative fees.
"Instead of merely assuring us that it is not the government introducing these increases and stating that she is dissatisfied with the service provided by the operators managing the scheme, Minister Miriam Dalli should give us a guarantee that prices will not go up," the party said in a statement.
It said that complaints from the goverment "will not lead us anywhere".
"The public expects nothing less than a guarantee from Minister Dalli and the government that prices will not increase – nothing more, nothing less," it said.
"What the government must do is ensure that the cost of living does not continue to rise and that consumers do not keep carrying the burden of continuous price increases on the essential products they consume daily."