GreenPak intends to proceed with legal action against Green MT following a defamatory statement claiming that the recycling cooperative had violated State aid rules, a statement from the waste collection firm has announced.
This comes after Green MT claimed that GreenPak violated State aid rules between July 2013 and November 2017, alleging that the latter saved "hundreds of thousands of euros" after local councils used public funds to pay for their service.
The statement claimed that the violation occurred when the local councils of St Julian's, Qormi and Mosta paid tens of thousands of euros to third-party contractors for waste collection.
In its claims, GreenPak said that between July to December 2015 and February to July 2016, Mosta local council paid Northern Cleaners Group the sum of €62,068.00; that between October 2016 and January 2017 St Julians local council paid the sum of €31,566 for collection of Glass and Grey Bags; and that between February 2016 and December 2016, Qormi local council paid the sum of €27,037 for recyclables collection and cardboard collection.
"Contrary to what was alleged, the State aid rules that Green MT is accusing GreenPak of breaching were actually performance-related contracts GreenPak had secured with St Julian's, Qormi and Mosta, which had sought to sever relations with Green MT,
"Furthermore, Green MT's allegation related to sums paid by the local councils to GreenPak is untrue. The opposite actually took place since GreenPak paid the following sums: Mosta local council €112,000; the St Julian's local council €27,000, and the Qormi council €90,000," GreenPak said.
The waste collection firm then noted that the 'unfounded allegations' came after The Sunday Times of Malta reported that Green MT had notified local councils that it would be charging them for carrying out the door-to-door collection of recyclable waste as well as a premium to service bring-in sites.
"Green MT took this arbitrary decision after it was ordered by the Environment and Resources Authority last month to reverse its decision to discontinue the collection of recyclable waste from six councils in Gozo. The authority said Green MT was not entitled to take such action simply on the premise that this practice was not financially sustainable.
"Green MT's reaction was to disregard the law stating that its members should pay for the free service provided to local councils and it informed several local councils in Gozo that it would be charging them as from today.
"Furthermore, the Environment Ministry stated it had not been informed by Green MT that it was discontinuing the collection of grey/green bags in a number of localities around Malta and Gozo.
"The Ministry has made it clear that no such action can be carried out without giving at least two months' notice to the Environmental Resources Authority. This was stated in the permit conditions as amended in January," GreenPak continued.
On the issue of state aid, GreenPak then claimed that it was Green MT who was currently in court over a potential breach which "effectively saved it from impending bankruptcy."