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Euro-Coalition wants tax on disposable beverage containers

A coalition of environmental groups, trade unions and industry groups from six European Union countries and Norway is demanding the introduction of a European tax of one-half euro (approximately US $0.60) per litre on all one-way, disposable containers to encourage reusable packaging.

Refillables comprise the major share of the beer and soft drink market in many European countries, but there is a trend, particularly in soft drink bottles, away from refillable glass and plastic and toward plastic PET (polyethylene terephalate) bottles.

The coalition, calling itself the European Reuse Platform, argues that life-cycle analysis studies clearly show reuse systems to be environmentally superior to one-way systems. Their proposal is expected to attract strong opposition from the mainstream packaging industry, but the Platform has assembled the largest and most varied coalition in support of reusables to date.

Members include a federal union of middle-sized private breweries and groups supporting Germany's quota system for refillable beverage containers, which is currently being challenged by the EU. The lead group in the European Reuse Platform, the European Environmental Bureau, is composed of 130 organizations in 24 countries.