GreenMT is a not for profit organisation that was set up by GRTU (The Malta Chamber of SMEs). The Chamber had studied the new environmental responsibilities imposed by the European Union and considered them as an opportunity. GRTU could have chosen to oppose this change but instead had decided that rather than leave this responsibility to be handled by Government it could be tackled better, more effeciently and at a lower cost by business representatives and GreenMT was created.

In the European Union producers or entities that place goods on the market of a member country are required to secure funds for the eventual recycling of the product packaging once it enters the waste stream. This is based on the "Polluter pays principle". In essence this means that when you buy a product such as a pair of shoes and it comes packed in a box, you will ultimately discard the box in your recycling bin. The contents of the bin are then collected by contractors that are organised and managed by GreenMT and sent to recycling plants that are also managed by the company. The importer of the product is required by law to join a recycling scheme such as GreenMT and pay a fee according to the amount of packaging materials that he places on the local market. The importer will collect the fee when you buy the product as it will be included in the cost of the product. This means that you as the user of the product will be paying for the collection and recycling of its packaging and therefore the "Polluter pays" principle is applied.

Many types of packaging exist such as plastic, paper, wood, metal and glass. Each has its own recycling challenges and therefore different costs. GreenMT handles all type of packinging on behalf of its members and has been doing so successfully for a number of years.