Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 600: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to an assessment of the relative environmental impact of glass bottle use versus aluminium cans for beer or soft drinks; his views on the introduction of an incentive to encourage switching; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32455/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Policy and legislation on packaging waste, including beverage containers, at European Union and national level, are based on the principles of minimising harm to the environment and maximising the efficient use of resources, and seek to achieve these objectives through the promotion of packaging waste prevention and minimisation, reuse and recycling. The question of which packaging materials (e.g. glass or aluminium), products or packaging systems are environmentally preferable is complex. While life cycle analyses have been undertaken in relation to packaging materials in a number of European countries, Member States are constrained in terms of the measures they can adopt to promote the use of one packaging material type over another.

Article 9 of European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste provides that packaging may not be placed on the market within the European Union unless it satisfies the provisions of the Directive i.e. it complies with the essential requirements on the composition and the reusable and recoverable nature of packaging as provided for in Annex II of that Directive. In this regard, Annex II of the Directive explicitly provides that packaging shall be designed, produced and placed on the market in such a way as to permit its reuse or recovery, including recycling and composting. Under article 18 of the Directive, Member States are prohibited from impeding the placing on the market of packaging which satisfies these essential requirements.