The economic advantages and disadvantages of PET bottles, including the particular characteristics of single trip, "two way" (which are collected after use by means of a repayable consumer deposit scheme like that used for refillable bottles, so that they can be sent for recycling in sorted bulk consignments) and refillable types, are compared to those of refillable glass bottles, with particular reference to the situation in Germany, where refillable glass is the traditional form of packaging for a wide range of beverages and still preferred by most of the smaller regional and local beverage companies. It is pointed out that some types of beverages (especially those which are highly susceptible to oxidative and/or photochemical deterioration and/or to spoilage by contaminant microorganisms) are much less stable in PET than in glass and that their quality may be impaired by treatments intended to correct the deficiency in stability.
