For those of you interested in glass re-use versus aluminum recycling...the
great Danish can ban fight continues. One thing I'll say about the Danish
government, when they decide on something they fight for it!
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Denmark sticks to its guns over can ban
ENDS Daily - 23/08/99
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Denmark has confirmed that it will defend the controversial
national ban on the sale of drinks in disposable metal cans
in the European Court if necessary. Replying to a legal
warning from the European Commission that the ban conflicts
with EU's 1994 packaging directive last week, environment
minister Svend Auken insisted again that Denmark was in
full compliance with the law, and with the EU treaty (ENDS
Daily 21 April). The first issue of a new weekly
commentary written by Mr Auken is also devoted to the "can
ban." In it, he argues that Denmark's unique cooperative
system for reusing glass bottles, which the ban seeks to
defend, prevents the creation of 400,000 tonnes of domestic
waste each year, or one-fifth of total output. "We have
good environmental arguments behind us . (and) the court
has put more weight on environmental considerations than
the Commission in the past," Mr Auken said.
Contacts: Danish environment ministry (http://www.mem.dk),
tel: +45 33 92 76 00. References: Svend Auken commentary
(http://130.227.176.66/auken/kommentar).