However, Chester City Council insists it was right to reject Oxyfuel Furnaces as such technology was "untried" in the UK on such a scale and would also require storage of large quantities of potentially hazardous oxygen on site.
And Mr Reuben Taylor, for Quinn Glass, alleged that Rockware's "only interest in commencing these proceedings is to prevent competition from entering into the market".
He argued Rockware had no legal "interest" in the environmental impact of the Quinn plant and its "unarguable" judicial review challenge should be dismissed on that ground alone.
Mr Taylor said that, in any event, the factory, when fully operational, "would be the cleanest container glass plant in the UK".
Even if the tight emission limits laid down by the city council were exceeded, there was no evidence that there would be any significant effect on local air quality or any risk of harm to human health, added the barrister.
Claims that the council erred in rejecting the option of Oxyfuel Furnaces were also "fundamentally misconceived", he told the judge.
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