Matthew Xuereb
Shoppers find cheaper alternatives
Consumers yesterday started going for alternatives to plastic bags to avoid paying the eco-tax. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier
Many people who went shopping yesterday either took their own bags or used discarded cardboard boxes rather than forking out money for plastic bags after the new eco-tax on kicked in on Sunday.
The Times yesterday visited a large supermarket in Birkirkara and it was noticed that shoppers at the cash till were hurriedly placing their shopping in cardboard boxes, strewn by the side of the counter. Others brought along cloth bags.
The new €0.15 tax announced in the last budget started being charged on Sunday but yesterday was the first business day following its introduction. The aim of the new tax is to reduce the 40 million plastic bags the Maltese use each year.
The move was met with stiff criticism, mainly from environmentalists, on the basis that it did not differentiate between conventional bags and the more environment-friendly option - biodegradable bags.
Contrary to the confusion that reigned when a similar eco-tax was introduced on plastic bags in 2005, yesterday shoppers seemed to have accepted the situation and began looking for alternatives to the ubiquitous plastic.
Doris Bonett, a director at Smart Supermarket, said they had expected more panic, just like they had experienced in 2005. She said they had prepared cardboard boxes for customers to use but they quickly ran out of them.
She said consumers were under the false impression that the plastic bags they had in stock could not be used as they did not have the producers' name printed on them, so customers could not even purchase them if they wanted to.
These bags can continue to be used until the end of April but retailers still have to charge the consumer a minimum of €0.15 on each bag and punch in the plastic bags, one by one, on the fiscal receipt.
From May 1, whoever produces or imports plastic carrier bags will have to print the name and address of the person registered under the Eco-Contribution Act, the registration number and the batch number of the consignment on each side of the bag.
If shopkeepers still have stock on May 1, they have two weeks to return the plastic bags to the government, which will refund the amount they had paid in eco-tax on those bags against official receipts. The cost of the bag will not be reimbursed and the government will destroy the stocks.
Ms Bonett said her supermarket had introduced cloth bags before the eco-tax on plastic bags was introduced in 2005. Whoever became a member of the Smart Supermarket Club was given a loyalty card and six free cloth bags to use for their shopping. Extra cloth bags were available at €0.55 each.
She said several customers yesterday purchased cloth bags but most people brought them along from home.
Janice Buttigieg, a customer, was packing her shopping into a cardboard box. She told The Times it was "the only free alternative" she had.
"In a way it's good because I'm recycling. They were going to be dumped anyway. I agree with the measure in principle, but the more environmentally friendly plastic bags should have been cheaper," she said.
Another customer sang the praises of the cloth bag saying it was very handy but expressed some concern on how he would dispose of his domestic rubbish.
He said he would have to start buying black garbage bags, adding that he would stop buying the grey Recycle Tuesdays plastic bags and buy black ones instead "because they can be used for everything".
"The government ought to have tackled illegal littering before targeting plastic bags. This is just like the issue of speed cameras. Before installing speed cameras everywhere, it should have taken other measures to make sure roads are safe, such as crash barriers, decently surfaced roads and proper lighting," he said.
John Borg, a director at Price Choppers Supermarket, said he had not heard any customers complain they were not being given free plastic bags. He said some had purchased bags but most took bags along with them. Plastic bags at this supermarket have been set at €0.20.
The owner of a confectionary in Santa Venera was planning an innovative way of utilising his stock even after the May 1 deadline - he will simply get the carrier bags he has left and cut out the handles, converting them into normal bags, which did not fall under the new regime.
It remains unclear how much the consumer will have to pay because, along with the €0.15 tax, the public has to pay VAT and the cost of the bag, which can vary from shop to shop. Some shops are charging between €0.20 and €0.30 for each bag.
When asked why the government did not impose different eco-tax levels for conventional and biodegradable plastic bags last week, Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino said the "visual impact (of the two types) is the same".
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L..Galea
Mar 4th 2009, 09:15
What about the approximately 60 million plastic bottles that are being dumped in our environment Pullicino?
Have you got the guts to put a €1 tax on them or are you afraid of your eu masters?
philip pace
Mar 4th 2009, 08:58
Re the article
"Contrary to the confusion that reigned when a similar eco-tax was introduced on plastic bags in 2005, yesterday shoppers seemed to have accepted the situation and began looking for alternatives to the ubiquitous plastic."
That cannot be taken as a sign that people have accepted such a tax generating move. Far from it.
I can take that as sign of protest, just like when voting comes and people go and vote and invalidate their vote or those who don't vote at all!
R Grima
Mar 4th 2009, 08:20
Who's fooling who? Untill such time as plastic bottles are eliminated I will not be anything but sceptical of the Government's true intentions re the introduction of yet another tax. Just another thing to remember when I am asked to vote in the coming elections.
Joe Fenech
Mar 3rd 2009, 23:38
Mr Balzan:
Those are the pathetic government's ways!
Joe Fenech
Mar 3rd 2009, 23:36
Woooow...how green the gov has become! Anything to make cash.
I like the yellow 'Sonic' logo - very original!
Ian Balzan
Mar 3rd 2009, 14:27
What i can't understand about this initiative is why the government is asking shop owners to dispose of all their plastic bag stock by the 2nd week of May. Shop owners order their plastic bags in bulk because it reduces the cost per bag which means that the majority of shop owners have thousands of plastic bags in stock. This means that by 15th May millions of plastic bags will go to waste and our governemnt was so kind to refund us the ecotax which we have already paid. And what about the cost of the bags and more importantly the whole point of reducing plastic bag waste?
C Mizzi
Mar 3rd 2009, 14:20
Through this decision Government did not bother about the impact this would create on businesses. Many businesses stocked bio-degradable bags before Christmas, to last them a year or more - on the understanding that they are in line with government requirements ! What they are being offered now is that government refunds the vat and ecotax, but not the cost of bags ... very kind. If it did not do so it would have been robbing businesses! It shows crass misunderstanding of the cost realities of (mainly small) business, for which a few thousand euros thrown away, literally, make the whole difference between making a profit or not. What is also shameful is some unions' silence on all this: I can think of a reason about this - it starts with European and ends with Elections !
John Matthews
Mar 3rd 2009, 14:05
Due to the temperatures in Malta, the rubbish is collected on a daily basis, not like here in the UK. What is going to happen to the rubbish when plastic bags run out because people will be using their own bags?
J. Antignolo
Mar 3rd 2009, 13:24
I think that it is only fair that once we are paying €0.18 (inclusive of Vat) for plastic bags that we get good proper durable and long lasting plastic bags. At least we will eventually use them as garbage bags. The biodegradable bags for which we are having to pay do not last more than 2 months so they are useless!!!!
Paul Barrett
Mar 3rd 2009, 12:44
I blame the successful drive to ban smoking, especially in public places. With the decrease in tax from smokers, the Country needs more income - hence speed camera and now the bag tax plus VAT.
Ramon Casha
Mar 3rd 2009, 11:06
"... it [does] not differentiate between conventional bags and the more environment-friendly option - biodegradable bags."
Is there anyone who still has doubts about whether measures such as this, and the speed cameras, are actually intended to grab cash rather than for any "good" motive such as to improve safety or the environment?
J Oatmon
Mar 3rd 2009, 10:55
As a result of this daft law, we shall now have to thread our way through leaking paper bags of rubbish.
The plastic bages were waterproof and paper is not, and so we will suffer an unecessary increase in cockroaches, rats etc.
So we will have deterioration in our health and our kids health, just to satisfy some politically correct green person - I would rather be healthy and mildly environmentally in error, than sick and correct environmentally.
A Garbett
Mar 3rd 2009, 10:53
One supermarket I went to yesterday was charging 25 cents for plastic bag, another shiop I visited was charging 18 cents. I did not purchase any bags that day
Matthew Laferla
Mar 3rd 2009, 10:38
I do not find discarded cardboard boxes any more pleasing that the visual impact of discarded plactic bags.
If anything, it makes Maltese shoppers look like hungry and poor people from some war-torn country.
A value-added experience for the tourists who come to Malta can only help the gutted industry I guess.
maria spiteri
Mar 3rd 2009, 10:28
@S Mizzi.. the thing is it seems biodegradable material is even less harmful to produce and dispose of and it is readily available, locally produced and certified by European labs, from what I've read recently in the papers... so the reason we are all reacting like this is because it seems more an excuse to tax than a real concern for the environment. Rest assured if we had to start using recycled paper bags they would probably find a way to tax those too.
S Mizzi
Mar 3rd 2009, 09:50
All over the US, from hypermarkets right down to liquor stores, shoppers make use of recycled or recyclable paper bags. Wouldn't this be a viable option for Malta?
Stanley Fenech
Mar 3rd 2009, 09:40
Can someone please confirm that it is legal to impose VAT on an other imposed tax as it was for cars? How come, the government is still imposing such double taxation even after warnings from the EU.
What are these double measures?