Requests made by Mepa or other regulatory bodies, in terms of applicable environmental legislation to improve on the low record currently registered by Malta in packaging waste recycling, are welcome. “Every effort to help Malta move up from the bottom of the EU league where recycling of packaging waste is concerned is a step in the right direction and can serve Malta well in the near future,” stated GreenPak, which operates the largest waste recovery scheme in the Maltese Islands, following the recent launch of Mepa’s online registration.
Mepa is currently advising producers of packaging, electronic equipment, and batteries and accumulators that the annual registration process has been launched online. GreenPak has already informed its 300 member companies that it had registered GreenPak members with Mepa well before and therefore does not need to register with Mepa vis-à-vis packaging waste.
GreenPak reminded producers that, as members of the scheme, there are various obligations from which they are exempt in terms of the law, as these are carried out on their behalf by the scheme. Among other things, GreenPak members do not need to register with Mepa as regards packaging waste, since GreenPak does this automatically on their behalf when they sign up to the scheme or renewing their membership. Thus, GreenPak said, any requests by Mepa sent to members to register online for the purposes of terms of the Waste Packaging have therefore already been catered for.
“Once a company joins GreenPak, which has uninterruptedly operated a Mepa-authorized compliance packaging waste scheme since 2006, that member immediately delegates the packaging waste registering process to GreenPak. In turn, GreenPak assumes all responsibility for Mepa’s requirements in this regard,” said Ing Mario Schembri, GreenPak’s CEO.
Importers, manufacturers, producers or anyone doing trade in the Maltese market is required by law to recover and recycle the packaging generated through such an activity. By joining the GreenPak scheme, any operator automatically transfers these obligations onto the scheme.
Established in 2004, GreenPak operates a compliance scheme that recovers and recycles packaging waste in the Maltese Islands. Apart from transferring legal responsibility for packaging recovery to GreenPak, signing up to the scheme provides companies with waste collection of packaging waste from warehouse at no extra cost. Eligibility for exemption from the eco-contribution tax, ongoing expert advice, and assurance in confidentiality of members’ data.
GreenPak is the pioneer of packaging waste recovery in Malta and has successfully lobbied the government to apply an exemption from eco-contribution for those companies that are members of a Mepa-authorised packaging waste recycling scheme. This application came into force earlier this month.
Up till the end of 2009, the GreenPak scheme had recovered 7,172 tons of packaging waste that could have ended up in a landfill.
The GreenPak scheme is endorsed by the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and the Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association (MHRA). In November 2009 GreenPak Ltd changed its status to GreenPak Coop Society, to guarantee a not-for-profit operation.