A new nationwide recycling scheme for drinks bottles and cans will roll out in a few weeks, changing the way Malta treats this type of waste.
The scheme is being run by BCRS Malta Ltd., whose directors form part of Malta’s largest beverage companies. Here’s how the new scheme will work.
How will it work?
When the scheme goes live, a deposit of 10c will be added to the purchase price of the beverages that are part of the scheme.
The deposit will be charged by producers and importers to retailers and catering establishments at the wholesale stage who will transfer it to the consumer. This means drinks that are part of the scheme will effectively cost 10c more.
Consumers can then recoup the 10c by returning the empty beverage container to a reverse vending machine or a designated bring-in site.
How do I get my money back?
A refund of the deposit will not be given to consumers from vending machines. Instead, upon return of the beverage container, consumers will be given a voucher to be redeemed against the bill at a retail outlet.
Over 160 of these vending machines will be installed in the island’s major retail outlets and a similar amount will be installed in public kiosks in village cores across Malta and Gozo.
What about businesses?
Businesses will get a B2B transaction directly with BCRS Malta Ltd.
Businesses using the public reverse vending machines will be given a redemption card service, where they can go to an RVM at any time, scan the card so that the system is aware of which business is depositing containers, and instead of receiving vouchers like a consumer would, they would receive the 10c deposit directly into their bank accounts.
If, for some reason, an economic operator does not want to use the public machines, BCRS will offer a free collection service once a month.
Beyond that, if a business wants more frequent collection, this can be organised through the same collector at a cost, using an online booking system using bags and special tags to seal them.
The tags can only be obtained through BCRS.
However, BCRS encourages the use of RVMs as it reduces the risk of empty containers being stolen as they now represent money.
What can I recycle?
Bottles or cans between 0.1 litres and 3 litres made from either plastic/PET, steel, aluminium, or glass can all be put in the reverse vending machines.
Non-carbonated and carbonated soft drinks
Ready-to-drink coffee beverages
‘Dilutables’
Water and flavoured water
Flavoured alcoholic beverages with an alcoholic content level which does not exceed 5%.
Ciders, beers and other malt beverages
What can’t I recycle?
Wines and spirits
Bottles with a capacity exceeding 3L
Juices and dairy products are out of scope and will not be collected by the scheme.
Existing returnable bottle systems will remain unchanged.
Ambitious targets
BCRS Malta Ltd aims to collect and recycle up to 90% of all single-use beverage containers placed on the Maltese market by 2026.
Every year, around 230 million beverage containers are put on the Maltese market.
Once collected, all containers will be sorted according to material type and packed efficiently to be exported for onward recycling.
BCRS Malta Ltd held its first in a series of information sessions about the scheme on Tuesday.
The meeting, which was attended by members of the business community hailing from the production, importation, distribution and retail segments of the beverages industry, was organised in collaboration with the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and was intended to explain in detail how the scheme will function.