Companies that took part in the GreenPak authorised waste recovery scheme between 2005 and 2008 are now able to claim back the eco-tax they had paid through a legal notice published on Monday.

The move was welcomed by GreenPak. It said that since 2005, it had been claiming that companies taking part in its scheme were entitled to be exempt from paying eco-tax because they were financing the recycling of packaging they placed on the market.

“During this period, GreenPak was the only scheme authorised by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for the recovery of packaging waste,” said Mario Schembri, CEO of Green Dot Malta Ltd, operators of the GreenPak scheme.

Although the exemption was provided for by law, the government was reluctant to dish out cash, GreenPak said. It pointed out that it was only in January, when the Ombudsman expressed his opinion in favour of the company’s claim, that the ball started rolling.

The ombudsman had declared that the government’s excuses for denying eco-tax exemptions to those companies taking part in organised recycling schemes were unacceptable and could lead to abuse. In a complaint initiated by GreenPak in 2009, the Ombudsman concluded that its members had been entitled to eco-tax exemptions or tax credits since 2006.

GreenPak advised companies that were members between 2005 and 2008 to compute the amounts they paid in eco-tax on packaging during that period and keep this information readily available. Application forms will be issued soon for claiming eco-tax refunds, GreenPak said.