GreenPak has welcomed a warning by Mepa that its inspectors would ensure that all producers comply with the relevant regulations on packaging waste recovery schemes.

“Malta’s waste packaging recycling performance is the lowest in the EU. Although the Czech Republic, Poland and the Baltic States have joined the EU in 2004 at the same time as Malta, their recycling performance is far higher ranging from 47% to 64% of all packaging waste disposed. Cypriots, who have a very similar geographical reality, manage to recycle over 25% of this waste, leaving Malta alone at the bottom of the EU waste recycling table. The harsh reality is that the EU is not allergic to dispensing large fines to persistent underachieving countries,” said GreenPak CEO Ing. Mario Schembri.

“Let’s not find ourselves in such an undesirable position, so it’s better if we all act now rather than have to pay large EU fines in the near future, which would be detrimental to the business and commercial environment,” said Ing Schembri.

The Legal Notice (277 of 2006) regulates the Management of Packaging Waste, obliges every producer placing packaging material on the Maltese market to register themselves with the Authority and keep an adequate audit trail of their operations in order to justify the amounts that were placed on the market, as well as the amounts that are being recovered or recycled.

GreenPak operates the longest running waste recovery scheme in Malta and has operated uninterruptedly since 2006.

As per EU regulations, MEPA’s compliance audits demand that a sound auditing procedure for traceability, monitoring, and control is in place for all the packaging waste managed in relation to the respective packaging waste recovery scheme permit. The audit trail covers all packaging waste from the point of generation or collection to the end recovery or disposal facility.

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