Maltese not keen on buying second-hand

The Maltese and Cypriots are second only to Romanian citizens in their aversion for second-hand products, a survey by Eurobarometer reveals.

Respondents in a Eurobarometer survey were asked whether they would buy second-hand books, CDs, video games, furniture, electrical appliances and textiles.

Only 16% of all EU respondents said they would not buy any of these products second-hand, compared to 36% of Maltese and Cypriot respondents.

Moreover while 34% of EU citizens would buy second-hand textiles, only 9% of Maltese would.

A majority of people in Estonia (63%), Finland (55%) and Latvia (51%) say they would buy second-hand textiles. In contrast, only 9% of respondents in Malta and 15% in Cyprus say they would do this.

In 17 EU states, at least 50% of people say that they would buy second-hand furniture. Seven out of 10 people would do this in Sweden (79%), Finland (76%) and Denmark (73%), while sharply fewer people would do so in Malta (26%), Romania (28%) and Bulgaria (32%).

Buying second-hand electronic equipment would be considered by at least 50% of people in just three Member States: Spain (58%), Portugal (54%) and the UK (51%).

The countries where the fewest people would consider this are Malta (18%), Romania (27%) and Estonia (28%).

The number of people who say they would buy second-hand household electrical appliances ranges from 49% in Portugal and 47% in Spain to just 12% in Malta and 21% in Ireland.

In 10 Member States, at least a fifth of people say spontaneously that they would not buy any of these products second-hand. Romania (40%), Cyprus (36%) and Malta (36%) have the highest proportions of people who give this answer. Finland and Sweden (both 8%) have the fewest people who would not buy any of the products second-hand.

Maltese averse to tap water

59% of EU citizens interviewed in the Eurobarometer survey say that they drink tap water to avoid packaging waste. In contrast, only 27% of Maltese are willing to drink tap water to avoid plastic waste.

Drinking tap water to avoid packaging waste is widespread in five Member States: Finland (89%), Sweden (86%), Slovakia (80%), Slovenia (77%) and Croatia (75%).

A majority of people in 21 countries say they drink tap water as a way of managing their waste. However, only 27% of people do it in Malta and 36% in Cyprus.

Maltese tolerate junk mail

Only 27% of Maltese make an effort to stop junk mail.

In nine Member States a majority of respondents say that they have made an effort to stop receiving unwanted mail.

This proportion is highest in the UK (71%), followed by Germany (66%) and Portugal (64%). On the other hand, about one in four respondents have taken this step in Malta (27%) and Croatia (28%).

Only 23% of Maltese make compost in their own homes. In 12 EU countries over half of the respondents say that they undertake home composting. This approach is most popular in Austria (66%), the Czech Republic (61%) and Finland (57%), and least popular in Greece (19%), Malta (23%), Cyprus (25%) and the Netherlands (25%).

Maltese against tariffs

The Maltese would prefer the price of waste management to be included in its price than to pay additional tariffs on unseparated waste.

A majority of people in just four EU countries believe that higher tariffs on unsorted waste would convince them to separate more of it: Portugal (60%), Belgium (53%), Germany (53%) and Austria (51%). This option is least popular in Estonia (15%), Hungary (22%) and Malta (23%).

Paying in proportion to the quantity of unsorted waste which is generated is the preferred approach in all but four Member States, and is supported by the highest percentages of people in Italy (58%), Belgium (54%) and Finland (54%). Support for this approach is lowest in Malta (23%).

In the four other countries, including the cost of waste management in the price of products is the most popular approach: Romania (36%), Bulgaria (35%), the UK (35%) and Malta (31%).