The Minister for the Environment, Miriam Dalli, has revealed that since the introduction of the Beverage Container Refund Scheme (BCRS), €345,216 worth of vouchers have gone unclaimed.

Dalli responded to this parliamentary question asked by PN MP Ian Vassallo, and clarified that the cut-off date for this collected data was September 2024, meaning that this information stems to nearly 22 months of BCRS' lifespan in the Maltese islands.

This uncashed value only pertains to BCRS receipts that were never redeemed, and which eclipsed the 12-month redeemable period, rendering them expired.

The Minister said that instead of being redeemed by people refunding these bottles, the €345,216 worth of funds have been invested through the purchase of more machinery to improve the operations and costs related to the Ħal Far plant, as well as other expenses related to the BCRS scheme itself.