The Resources Ministry has, at last, published a legal notice on eco-contribution exemptions for producers of Packaging Waste that dispose of their waste through a compliance scheme, the GRTU said.

It explained in a statement said that it had been insisting since the introduction of the eco-contribution years ago that the law was discriminatory as it arbitrarily selected a number of enterprises and made the products they sold subject to eco-tax and most others were not forced to abide by the new waste-management compliance standards.

The chamber said that it had also worked to promote a corporate responsibility approach by its members in order for them to be able to take up their responsibilities in respect to the environmental obligations of waste packaging and also the waste of electrical and electronic equipment.

It also set up a fully owned subsidiary with a permit to operate a waste packaging compliance scheme.

In terms of the legal notice, firms which have registered with a registered Compliance scheme can now benefit from tax exemptions and are no longer obliged to pay twice (to the Scheme for the service rendered and to the government in the eco-contribution due).

"Today's publication of the Application for Exemption from Eco Contribution is a fundamental step in the right direction by the government for producers of waste packaging. GRTU is very grateful to all those who have helped to make bring about this important breakthrough in positive fiscal mechanisms for enterprise, a principle close to heart for the GRTU leadership," the GRTU said.