Over 4.5 Million Bottles And Cans Collected By BCRS In First Three Weeks
An astonishing 4.5 million bottles and cans have been returned since the launch of the Beverage Container Refund Scheme on the Maltese islands.
In a statement, BCRS outlined that 800,000 returns were made over the past weekend alone, adding that they are encouraged by the public’s participation.
“Around 90% of our 320 machines have been fully functional in spite of huge demand and we believe the response will improve further as people become more accustomed to the scheme,” a spokesperson for BCRS said.
Prior to the introduction of the BRCS scheme, Malta was consistently the worst EU performer when it came to recycling, with the island managing to recycle only 10% of plastic packaging.
This pales in comparison with the European median of 38%.
Given the country’s consistently dismal recycling levels as well as more stringent EU targets on recycling, the government decided Malta should switch from a home collection system to a more focused beverage container return scheme.
The spokesman went on to say that BCRS Malta was formed “to respond to this change and will face legal consequences – including penalties purposely set up by the regulator- should we fail to meet ambitious recovery and recycling targets”.
“The introduction of fully refundable compulsory deposits has proven to be highly effective abroad and we based our scheme on these successful models.”
“However, this requires a culture change from all of us and, though an element of disruption is inevitable, we believe that ultimately the BCRS scheme will benefit the environment.”
BCRS also appealed to the public to recognise the need to work collectively, so that better results can be achieved.
“While separating waste may present an inconvenience, it is already showing itself to be a tangible step in drawing us closer to mandatory EU targets and making a real difference to Malta’s environment.”
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