First 53 applications for eco-tax exemptions submitted by GreenPak

The applications were submitted with the recently formed approving body, whose role is to determine which companies are entitled to be exempted from the payment of eco contributions.

The criteria for granting an exemption from payment of eco-tax requires companies to form part of a MEPA authorised waste recovery scheme and participate in the financing of the recycling of packaging waste.

GreenPak waste recovery scheme was established in 2006 and has today over 300 member companies working together under a Cooperative Society who help finance the waste recovery schemes in many localities in Malta and Gozo.

The Approving Body is made up of representatives from the Malta Environmental and Planning Authority (MEPA), the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs (MRRA), and Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment (MFEI).

“For over 5 years, GreenPak has been urging the authorities to introduce eco-tax exemptions to companies that are financing waste recovery systems. Originally contemplated in the 2004 Eco-Contributions Act, such exemptions have been slow in coming. However rapid progress is now being noted and GreenPak is currently negotiating with the authorities a provisional exemption prior to the 15th September; the day when the next eco-tax return is due. In this way, firms registered with the GreenPak waste recovery scheme will be exempted from paying the eco-tax contribution and will start benefiting immediately,” said Ing. Mario Schembri, GreenPak’s CEO.

“Through its operations, GreenPak scheme has recovered over 10 million kilograms of packaging waste, diverting them from landfills,” he said.