Valletta eatery ditches bottle refund scheme, patrons get free still water in glass bottles

Late millennials and Gen Zs were all bombarded with the ‘Three R’s’ in school; reduce, reuse and recycle - a 2004 global initiative aimed at maximising resources and reducing waste.

All were thought that the Three R’s are listed in order of importance i.e. reduce first, reuse if you can’t reduce, and ultimately recycle if there isn’t another option.

The administration of Elephant Shoe, A Valletta eatery at the Upper Barrakka Gardens, seems to have paid attention in class, as they decided to be proactive and provide their patrons with free still water in glass bottles, instead of participating in the national beverage container refund scheme.

Last November, Malta’s first beverage container refund scheme went live, with the installation of around 300 Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) installed across Malta and Gozo.

Consumers can return empty beverage containers to the RVMs and get back the €0.10c deposit on each container, in the form of vouchers redeemable at retail outlets that sell such beverage containers.

“We are watching the news closely about the plastic bottles saga while in the meantime we are super proud that we are the FIRST restaurant in Malta to offer FREE still water in glass bottles since we opened to ALL our customers,” wrote Elephant Shoe on Facebook.

BCRS, the licensed operator of the scheme said that in less than six weeks, over 10 million single-use beverage containers have been collected back from RVMs.

The Valletta eatery seems to have taken a page out of the French restaurant’s playbook, at which it’s custom that tap water is provided for free for diners.

Although the tap water in Malta is compliant legal requirements set out by the European Drinking Water Directive, according to the Water Services Corporation, the average Maltese consumer prefers the taste of and opts to drink bottled water.