GRTU on the Environment Front

GRTU is one National Organization that does its utmost to safeguard the environment. GRTU strives to educate its own members to look forward to a future where we as a country are on the forefront of environmental protection. It is easy for arm-chair critics to discuss and condemn. It is however much harder to organize and implement. When the Packaging Waste issue arose many wrote and proposed. But it was GRTU that organized its members to set up their own National Compliance Scheme and handle members' packaging waste.

This entails a massive organization to collect all packaging waste from the kerb-sides everywhere, process the material collected and manage 400 bring-in-sites with a total of more than 1,200 skips. In spite of all the criticism, mostly grossly unfair, especially from those who for the environment have never done anything other than talk, the GRTU Waste Management Compliance Scheme – Green MT, is a great success. Membership now surpassed 1,000 members. 1,040 to be exact. Yes, more than one thousand businesses who believe in Green MT enough to trust us with their obligations at Law and to pay Green MT for the services it renders.

The same goes for 41 Local Councils who authorize Green MT to collect all the recyclable waste collection and management in their Locality.

Green MT is now steadily building its Waste of Electronics and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Waste Compliance Scheme. GRTU and Green MT are also working on other waste streams. Ideally we are to be the one-stop shop for all waste streams generated by the Maltese businesses.

GRTU was also instrumental so that Malta together with Ireland where the first EU Member States  to ban smoking in Public Places and bid addio to plastic bags. EU tourists and others who visit Malta are astounded at the level of compliance reached in Malta on the cigarette smoking ban and on the abolition of plastic bags. Yet few recognize that behind those environmental successes there is one name: GRTU

GRTU is now looking forward to the future. As stated elsewhere we stood shoulder to shoulder with the promoters of the New National Bus System as we strongly believe it is good for us and good for the entire environment.

GRTU is determined on the new energy support schemes like the photo-voltaic support scheme. We are also working on the other scheme like the motor-vehicle renewal scheme of the clear air schemes. We work while others talk. We act while others just criticize. We lead when others hamper.