The eco-contribution commission, set up by the government after a call by the social partners, has started discussing ways in which the private sector could collect waste for recycling, the government said yesterday.

The commission's terms of reference, in fact, are to find ways in which private schemes for waste collection should work, for both industrial and domestic waste.

The commission is to analyse how the law could be enforced and to propose ways of doing this without unnecessary bureaucracy.

The members of the commission have agreed that any individual or entity interested in implementing private recovery schemes should inform the commission about their proposal by not later than October 31.

The commission is made up of representatives from the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, the Federation of Industry, the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise, GRTU, the VAT Department, the Finance Ministry, WasteServ, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and environment NGOs.

The commission has to report to the government by the end of November.