There are limits to how far we can go to optimise packaging. Fresh quality products need to be hygienically well protected, so packaging is a lot more than just a medium for promotion. There is a range of materials that provides the kind of protection sensitive dairy products need. They include:

• glass
• plastic and plastic foils
• compound cardboard
• aluminium

When choosing the raw materials to be used for returnable and non-returnable packaging systems, the dairy industry takes a number of factors into account: the latest environmental and engineering developments, consumer preferences, retailers' demands, and the necessities of the product in question - whereby each product has very individual requirements. There is no such thing as a packaging material which is equally ideal for all products.

All dairy packaging is collectable and recyclable (via Germany's Duales System Deutschland). German industry has invested some 26 billion euros in its disposal systems over the past 14 years, 5 billion euros of which are attributable to the dairy industry. With a volume of 370 million euros annually, Germany's dairy industry is the biggest licensing partner for Duales System Deutschland).

The Association of Dairy Producers hopes to see the 1991 regulation on packaging being amended soon, thereby closing the growing gap between this timeworn legislation and the technical capabilities now available for recycling. Any new law will, however, need to comply with the demands of the authorities and not be cause for dispute between the environment ministry and the cartel office - a situation which would ultimately be to the detriment of the industry and the consumers.

For more information, visit these sites:

• www.gruener-punkt.de
• www.getraenkekarton.de
• www.kunststoffverpackung.de
• www.verpackung.org