Bottling of soft drinks

Beverage bottles can add to the waste problem. Malta bans the bottling of soft drinks in plastic bottles, although bottling of mineral water in plastic is allowed. Soft drinks are only available in glass bottles or directly from kegs. The ban has the effect of limiting the production of waste because we use less plastic bottles. It is estimated that more than 80 million plastic bottles are kept out of the waste stream because of this ban. However, the ban also has the effect of protecting our local soft drinks industry against competition from imported soft drinks and of limiting consumer choice.