The operators of the Beverage Container Refund Scheme (BCRS) have received 3,691 complaints related to potential damage to the Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) between July 2023 and September 2024.

Complaints made during this 15-month period were received by the machine operators on potential damage to these machines and in some cases, there were repeat complaints made by different sources on the same issue.

Throughout this period, an average of 246 complaints were made per month on potential damages to RVMs.

This information was published following a parliamentary question asked by the Nationalist Party's Rebekah Borg and answered by the Minister for the Environment, Miriam Dalli. This data was collected by the agency Circular Economy Malta from the machine operators.

The Beverage Container Refund Scheme was first introduced in November 2022, however, due to a technical limitation that was identified in May 2023 on the nature of the complaints, the operators informed Circular Economy Malta that they were not in a position to provide this information for the period between November 2022 and June 2023.