€345,216 in expired BCRS vouchers invested ‘in new machinery and operations’

In a parliamentary sitting on 11th November (yesterday) Minister for the Environment, Energy, and the Regeneration of the Grand Harbour Miriam Dalli confirmed that almost €350,000 in BCRS vouchers have expired and freed up for use by the consortium operating the scheme.

The figure represents all vouchers that were not redeemed and expired from the launch of the scheme in November 2022 to September 2024.

Vouchers can only be cashed within 12 months of issuance, after which they expire. This unredeemed amount - a total of €345,216 - was reinvested into the purchase of new machinery to improve operations and fund expenses related to the Ħal Far facility, among other necessary investments, said Dr Dalli.

In September of this year, Dr Dalli also confirmed that €1,978,429 worth of vouchers issued as part of the BCRS scheme have yet to be cashed by customers.

Since the scheme's inception in 2022, a total of €35.2 million in vouchers has been issued to consumers, and a total of 403.5 million beverage containers have been collected.

Out of these, the majority (357.4 million) were collected from the reverse vending machines, and 46.1 million were collected through the manual systems found in catering establishments and retail stores.

The initiative, operated by BCRS Ltd, incentivises the return of single-use beverage containers by applying a refundable deposit of €0.10 on the sale of beverages. Consumers and businesses can reclaim their deposit by returning the empty container to one of the company’s reverse vending machines.