St Paul’s Bay Mayor Warns Council Could Block Reverse Vending Machines Due To Lack Of Enforcement
St Paul’s Bay mayor Alfred Grima has warned that the council could resort to physically blocking bottle reverse vending machines due to a lack of enforcement against littering around them.
“Every day a considerable amount of waste is left around the recycling machines scattered around the locality,” Grima said, as he published a photo of general waste surrounding a set of reverse vending machines.
“This is happening when the company responsible for the machines [BCRS] is obliged to ensure that the area remains clean.”
Calling out the lack of environmental enforcement against BCRS, which is run by the associations for beverage producers, importers and retailers, the mayor warned the council is considering drastic action, including blocking the machines, if the authorities remain passive.
Launched last month, the recycling scheme has seen the retail price of several plastic and glass bottles increase by 10c, with consumers able to regain the money by depositing the used bottles in a reverse vending machine.
While the scheme intends to promote recycling and disincentivise littering, it has been criticised over the fact that several machines are regularly full up and some have become de facto dumping sites for general waste.
How do you assess the BCRS reverse vending machine scheme so far?
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