OPEN CONSULTATION

Background

In terms of Article 51 of the Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549), it is duly notified that the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), in collaboration with the Ministry for Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change is preparing a national strategy for the reduction of single-use plastic items in the Maltese Islands. This document shall be entitled “Single-use plastic products Strategy for Malta, 2019-2025 – Re-think plastic”.

The aim of the strategy will be to ensure the protection of the environment and human health from plastic pollution.

Items, that are entirely or partially made of plastics, that are used once and then are disposed of, are commonly used in everyday life. Such items constitute an important element of our economy. On the other hand, such items have low rates of reuse, recovery and recycling when compared with other recyclables such as paper, metals and glass. The majority of plastic waste is generally either sent to the landfill or incinerated. Yet, a significant amount of items made from plastic may end up as litter in the marine or terrestrial environment.

The objectives of this Strategy are to:

1.            Reduce consumption of single-use plastic (SUP) products; and

2.            Increase the quality and quantities of Single-Use Plastic waste collected for recycling.​

The public is invited to submit any feedback or comments on the intent and objectives of this strategy.

Consultation Questions

The public is invited to submit any feedback or comments on the intent and objectives of this strategy.

Submission of input

Submissions must be sent in through the following channel:

By email:   era.policyconsultation@era.org.mt​

Submissions must be received by 4 February 2019.

Please be informed that submissions will be published on the webpage of this consultation at the end of the scoping phase. The lead Ministry has sole discretion upon the publication of comments.

Received contributions, together with the identity of the contributor, will be published on the Internet, unless the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal data on the grounds that such publication would harm his/her legitimate interests. In this case the contribution may be published in anonymous form. Otherwise the contribution will not be published nor will, in principle, its content be taken into account.  Any objections concerning the publication of personal data should be sent to the service responsible for the consultation on the following email address: onlineconsultations@gov.mt.