Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1176480
BUDGET 2020 maltatoday | TUESDAY • 15 OCTOBER 2019 8 ENVIRONMENT JAMES DEBONO A beverage container refund scheme which will see people depositing plastic, met-al or glass beverage containers in a reverse vending machine for a 10-cent refund, is expected to come in place by the end of 2020 after prolonged consulta- tions with stakeholders. The new system will be run by an organisation made up of operators involved in the im- portation and retail of beverage containers. The new operation will re- quire an estimated investment of €15 million and will include a 4,000sq.m factory, the instal- lation of central equipment and IT systems and approximately 450 reverse vending machines. The factory will be used to "process" all the material col- lected through the refund sys- tem. The system was first pro- posed in the 2015 budget and was mentioned in subse-quent budgets including that of last year. "The objective is to have all installations completed by end of 2020," Marc Muscat, the CEO of the Resource, Recovery and Recycling Agency (RRRA), told MaltaToday. 2020 will also see the obliga- tory registration of every opera- tor who imports, pro-duces or sells beverage containers in the market. Every product will also be regis- tered according to container size, material proper-ties and profile in line with the regulations. Who will run the new system? According to Muscat the pre- ferred operator for the new set- up will be the "organi-sation made up of those operators placing a significant majority of containers on the market". In line with the EU's Waste Framework Directive, the se- lected organisation has to be run either on a not-for-profit basis, or on a basis where profit is not intended for distribution among owners. The management of the or- ganisation has to be inde- pendent and has "to operate at an arms' length basis from its shareholders, members or founders". The selected company also has to assume the collective ex- tended producer respon-sibility on behalf of all producers and retailers of single use containers. It also has to allow for the par- ticipation, whether directly or indirectly, of all pro-ducers and retailers in a non-discriminato- ry manner, regardless of their origin or size, without placing a disproportionate regulatory burden on producers, includ- ing small and medium-sized enterprises, of small quantities of products. Why did it take so long? In December 2018, the rep- resentatives of the main stake- holders in the production, import and retail sector had signed a memorandum of un- derstanding with the RRRA. This led to extensive negotia- tions where details on opera- tions, responsibili-ties and ob- ligations were defined. The revisions had to reflect the amended Waste Frame- work Directive and the Pack- aging and Packaging Waste Directive that came into force in 2018 together with the Sin- gle Use Plastic Directive which came into force in 2019. This process was concluded in September. Subsequently the technical regulations were notified to the European Com- mission. "We are currently in the 3-month standing period which is anticipated to close on the 5th December, 2019," Muscat said. In the meantime discussions have been held with Malta In- dustrial Parks and facto-ry space for the new venture has already been identified. Stakeholders have also estab- lished three new associations, catering for the local beverages producers, the importers of beverages and the retailers of beverages. 450 reverse vending machines to be in place by end of 2020 THE cost for appealing a decision of the Planning Authority will be re- duced for NGOs to €1,000, in a move designed to make the contentious de- cisions of the PA easily contested by green movements. The nature of costs to appeal PA de- cisions was pushed more in the light in the last years as a stronger envi- ronmental movement crowdsourced funds for legal funds to contest deci- sions taken by the planning regulator. PA decisions can be appealed before the three-person Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, within 30 days of publication of the first decision in the Government Gazette. The appeal fee is 5% of the fee origi- nally paid by the applicant – a mini- mum fee of €150 which is capped at €3,500, together with a €50 adminis- tration fee. The scale of the costs to appeal a PA decision was highlighted by the efforts of NGOs such as Flimkien għal Amb- jent Aħjar (FAA), who crowdsourced €7,000 to cover the cost of an appeal and legal and architectural fees for the Manoel Island project at Gzira. The appeal followed a campaign by the citizens' group Inħobbu l-Gżira which launched a petition calling on Malta's Parliament to turn Manoel Is- land into a national heritage park. Over 8,000 signed the petition offline and online, the highest number of signa- tures for an environment related par- liamentary petition in this legislature. An appeal was also filed against the decision of the PA Board that recently approved the db Group project on the ITS site in Pembroke, which included residents, NGOs and three local coun- cils – Pembroke, St. Julian's and Swie- qi – thanks to €24,350 collected from the public. Planning appeals costs reduced for NGOs Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar crowdsourced €7,000 to cover the cost of an appeal and other fees for the Manoel Island project