The government has repurchased nearly 10.3 million plastic bags, at an estimated cost of more than €1 million, from retailers who had not been given enough time to make use of their stock before the new eco tax came into force.

The number of bags bought back is far higher than the roughly three million calculated to have been left on the market when their use was outlawed. Although invoices are still being verified by the VAT Department, which manages the Eco Tax scheme, at an average of 11c per bag the government is expected to dish out €1.13 million to retailers.

A spokesman for WastServ, the government's waste management agency which purchased the stock, said the bags had been put into bales and shipped for recycling. He did not know how much the agency had made from the sale. But it is expected to be very far below the cost of repurchase.

The tax on plastic bags announced in the last budget was initially meant to come into force on March 1, as the new regime of 15c per bag kicked in.

Unlike a similar measure introduced in 2005 - which had failed miserably, mainly due to lack of enforcement - this regime did not differentiate between the conventional bags and those produced with environmentally responsible degradable and biodegradable material. The same eco tax is now being paid on all these materials.

The aim of the tax was to drastically reduce the 40 million plastic bags the Maltese use each year.

Manufacturers, wholesalers and shop owners had lashed out at the new 15c eco tax because they claimed they did not have enough time to dispose of their stocks.

In a bid to ease their situation, the government gave them up to May 1 to get rid of their stock and offered to purchase any remaining bags from shop owners at full cost.

Plastic bag producers and shop owners had petitioned the government to place a two-year moratorium on the new tax to give them more time. They insisted that it would have cost the government much less to allow a moratorium than to repurchase the bags.

Despite offering to repurchase the stock, the Resources and Rural Affairs Ministry had been clueless about the number of bags on the market - its rough estimate had been of three million.

The estimate has turned out to be way off target - retailers sold WastServ exactly 10,293,190 plastic bags.

This figure does not include those retailers who were abroad during the three-day period they were given to register their stock. Their plastic bags are still in storage but the Resources Ministry spokesman said they had lost their chance for reimbursement.

The spokesman said payment was still to be made for the plastic bags sold to WastServ as the invoices and receipts presented were still being verified by the VAT Department.

Under the new regulations, whoever produces or imports plastic carrier bags has 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.