Legal blow for Belgian drinks packaging ecotax

A court has annulled part of a controversial Belgian ecotax on disposable drinks containers and demanded amendments by 30 June 2006. In its judgement, the court of arbitration annulled for legal reasons the possibility to exempt one-way containers with a minimum recycled content from the ecotax. Critically for Europe's drinks industry, it also questioned the ineligibility of other one-way containers for exemption even where high recycling rates are achieved. The ruling was strongly welcomed by a lobbyist for manufacturers Nestlé and Danone, which brought the case. See court and the ruling.