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BCRS Malta Ltd, a private company set up by the associations for beverage producers, importers and retailers, will open 320 light green reverse vending machines across Malta and Gozo. 

A full map showing the machines’ exact locations can be found on their website but around 60% of them have been installed in supermarkets and retail outlets, after studies showed the rate of bottle collection is higher at places where bottles are sold.

The machine accepts several types of plastic, metal and glass bottles, including still, sparkling and flavoured water, soft drinks, beers, ciders and dilutables. Wines, spirits, juices and milk cartons won’t be accepted.

It’s important to keep the label on when depositing the bottle as the machines will scan the bar code and check it against a database of bottles that have entered the Maltese market. This is intended to safeguard against abuse, such as people placing bottle-shaped items into the machine.

The machine will also check the shape of the bottle, so while a few dents are acceptable, it will reject crushed bottles. It is encouraged, but not mandatory, to keep the cap on the bottle when depositing it.

Once the machine has accepted the bottle, it will give you two options – keep the 10c receipt for yourself or donate it to charity. Initially, you will only be able to donate to the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation as part of its L-Istrina campaign but more charities are expected to be added to the list later.

Bottles can be deposited individually or in bulk; if, for example, you deposit 20 bottles at once, you will receive a receipt for €2.

If you choose to keep the money, you will be able to redeem it when shopping at a supermarket, grocery or retail outlet that sells beverages, and the discount will be marked on the receipt.

While you won’t be able to exchange a bottle receipt for cash, the receipts can be redeemed against any purchased items – not only beverages.

All machines make use of IoT technology, which will give BCRS visibility on data such as how many bottles are being deposited per vending machine, how many vouchers are being redeemed and the most popular stores for voucher redemption.

Restaurants will be able to contact BCRS to collect their empty bottles every week and refund them 10c per bottle at the end of the month. If they would rather dispose of the bottles themselves, perhaps because a reverse vending machine is close to their establishment, they will be given a business card to use when depositing. BCRS will be notified whenever a bottle is deposited and will refund restaurants at the end of the month.

All bottles end up at BCRS’ Ħal Far branch, where they will be separated, crushed and sorted into cubes for sale to recycling plants.

Malta will become the 13th European country and the first southern European one to implement such a scheme, although its small size means it is set to have more reverse vending machines per square kilometre than most.

The scheme is crucial for Malta to reach its EU targets, which bind all member states to ensure that 77% of plastic bottles are collected separately by 2025, rising to 90% by 2029.

BCRS is confident that the public will display interest in this recycling scheme, estimating that plastic bottle collection will shoot up to 80% in its first year of operation.

Are you looking forward to this new recycling scheme?