The Latest Packaging Innovation: Beer in Plastic Bottles

 

If you're off to a baseball game this summer or football game this fall, you may be surprised to see beer in a plastic bottle.

Recently, beer in plastic bottles have debuted at sports arenas, stadiums and music venues throughout the country such as Philadelphia's Veteran's Stadium, Miami's Pro Players Stadium, Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix and the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif. The public, quick to recognize the advantages of the new plastic bottle, has enthusiastically embraced its debut.

Plastic beer bottles offer several advantages:

• Great for stadiums, beaches, pools or park where glass bottles are not as convenient or not allowed.
• They are unbreakable and resealable
• They are lighter to transport
• They keep beer colder longer and stay just as fresh as glass bottles

 

The plastic bottle looks just like its glass counterpart and is made from either clear or amber polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The PET bottle features "barrier" layers which prevent loss of carbonation and flavor. The barrier layers separate cleanly from the other layers during recycling and comprise about five percent of the total weight of the bottle. The bottles also feature a recyclable polypropylene (PP) cap.

To ensure the recyclability of the new bottles, brewers worked closely with Continental PET Technologies to develop a bottle that was compatible with the existing plastics recycling infrastructure through the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers' (APR), "Champions for Change Program." This cooperative testing program is a partnership of consumer products companies, working with their respective packaging suppliers and the members of APR. The focus of the program is to determine a package's compatibility in current recycling processes and provide that information to the supplier and to other recyclers both prior to, and after the introduction, of new packaging to the marketplace. A significant change that came out of this program was the switch from a metal cap to the PP cap. After testing was completed, it was determined that the PP cap was more compatible in the recycling process.

The new plastic beer bottle also delivers significant resource conservation benefits. Five pounds of plastic can deliver approximately eight gallons of beer. You would need eight pounds of steel or 27 pounds of glass to bring home the same amount. This reduced packaging could also result in additional energy efficiency savings, since less fuel is used in packaging production and transport of the product to the marketplace.

So the next time you reach for an ice-cold beer, consider reaching for one in a plastic bottle.

 

 

Additional Information

Miller Brewing Company Plastic Beer Bottle Information Sheet

Latest Advance in Consumer Friendly Packaging: Beer in Plastic Bottles? The Idea is Brewing

Industry Groups Coordinate to Ensure the Successful Introduction of Plastic Beer Bottles

Miller Brewing Company

 

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