Green Dot welcomes NAO report on packaging waste

Ing Mario Schembri, CEO of GreenPak highlighted the report saying that government has inadvertedly crowded out the private sector’s ability to take up the role of recycling and that only after Wasteserv started to move out the collection of recycleable materials did any real progress begin to be made.

He also highlighted the reality that waste recycling by producers in Malta is still significantly below target and that the majority of producers subject to Eco-Contributions were still not recycling.

“Unfortunately the introduction of eco-Contribution system has led to a false sense of security that the State was taking up recycling obligations for producers, which of course is not the case,” Schembri said.

GreenPak also pointed out that Government has only recently begun to grant exemptions to companies that were funding recycling and that it is a shame that refunds were not available on past eco-contribution payments as it leads to discrimination against those who have been funding recycling and fulfilling their packaging waste obligations for the past four years.