Authorities can no longer ignore the huge amount of waste generated from junk mail so a public consultation will be held on ways to tackle it, Environment Minister Leo Brincat announced yesterday.

He said the previous administration did not give the issue due attention, with the exception of a 2009 Budget measure that was not implemented anyway.

Back then it was announced that every 80 grams of paper delivered door-to-door for free would be taxed one cent.

The plan was to apply this measure to publications more than half full of advertising and to magazines distributed free with newspapers.

The minister said the issue could not be tackled overnight so the government would invite all stakeholders to submit their ideas.

Any measure would have to fit within the national waste management plan.

During the same press conference, while launching an initiative to raise awareness about hazardous waste, he encouraged people to take spent light bulbs to their nearest civic amenity site.

As well as helping safeguard the environment, they will also have the chance of winning €500 worth of prizes every three months.

For each spent light bulb, five lottery tickets will be handed out, with no closing date for this initiative.

According to a recent Wasteserv study of 1,400 respondents, only 17 per cent knew that light bulbs were considered hazardous rubbish.

Forty-three cent said that they disposed of them in black garbage bags used for mixed domestic waste.

The highest level of awareness was among people under 16, 54 per cent of whom gave the correct answer.

A similar initiative has been launched for plastic bottles, which so far has led to about a million being collected for recycling purposes.