BCRS Announces New Bottle Fees For Importers And Producers And Warns Of Widespread Fraud
BCRS has increased the administration fees for producers and importers by 1c per plastic, aluminium and steel bottle and 2c per glass bottle they put on the market.
It is up to the importers and producers to decide whether to pass these extra costs on to consumers, but there have already been reports that some prices have increased.
In a notice to importers and producers, BCRS said it decided to increase administration fees to cover rising operational costs, including through higher collection rates, enhanced service quality measures, rising compliance issues, and a drop in global recyclable waste prices.
“BCRS can no longer absorb these increases without risking the scheme’s sustainability,” they warned.
“To address this, administration fees will be adjusted. The increase in administration fees will cover the said increased costs and will support improved infrastructure, more efficient recycling processes, and the reduction of environmental impact caused by waste.”
The administration fees will increase as of 1st February as follows:
In its notice, BCRS also informed importers and producers that enforcement will increase to combat fraud within the scheme in terms of under-declaration of bottles.
“This will include more robust monitoring, compliance checks, and engagement to ensure that all producers and importers meet their obligations under the scheme,” they said.
“Strengthening enforcement is an essential step to protect the efforts and investments of committed producers and importers and uphold the high standards we have set together.”
“BCRS understands that these changes may pose challenges for your business, but we are confident that they will ultimately benefit our collective goal of a cleaner, more sustainable environment.”
Speaking to Lovin Malta, BCRS CEO Alan Meilak warned that the scheme is being impacted by significant fraud whereby producers and importers are not declaring the correct amount of bottles being placed on the market.
He said that from data analysis, BCRS noticed that certain bottles are being collected more than they are being declared, which means that these producers and importers aren’t paying the required 10c fee on these undeclared bottles.
“BCRS is duty bound to refund the 10c to consumers for these undeclared bottles from its own pockets which results in a significant cost to the Company,” he said.
Since the BCRS scheme was launched in November 2022, 450 million containers have been collected which in 2024 alone, represent 84% of in-scope containers being placed on the market.
This translates to over 21,000 tonnes of beverage containers exported for recycling into new beverage containers. Malta’s target is to collect at least 90% of in-scope containers by 2026.
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