Dive Brief:
- MillerCoors LLC saw a jump in sales when it switched 32-ounce and 40-ounce beer bottles from glass to plastic in 2014. Jonah Smith, the company's sustainability manager for policy and reporting, said about 1% of sales are through plastic bottles, and that number could increase, though it's unsure when. Most beer comes in aluminum cans and glass bottles.
- The packaging switch cut the products’ carbon footprint by 25%, saving tens of millions of dollars, Smith told the Plastic Caps & Closures Conference in Itasca, IL. Container weight was reduced by about a pound for each bottle, lowering the tonnage of products that distributors ship.
- Smith said the use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles will increase "within 10 to 15 years ... as more MRFs, materials recovery facilities, improve their technologies in how best to recycle PET."
Dive Insight:
Waste 360 has reported that, in 2013, 27.5 billion glass containers were made in the U.S., and almost 80% were beverage containers, three-quarters of which were beer bottles.
Smith told the conference, organized by Plastics News, that consumers are driving the move toward new packaging.
"I think that with technology, with consumer demand, you’re seeing more and more consumers asking for things like this. And then more and more companies are able to say. 'This is what we’re capable of doing. As a manufacturer this is what we can do in terms of sustainability.' It’s a two-way street," he said.
The change won't happen overnight, but with such a huge market, even a small switch could make a big difference. One challenge for plastic beer packaging is the use of barriers to protect its freshness, Smith said.
The cost of disposing of glass is taking a toll on companies in the industry. In some cities like Chattanooga, recyclables are going to a landfill because MRFs are not equipped to handle glass. In Kansas City, MO, so much beer bottle glass goes to the landfill that a man — who originally founded a beer company — has started Ripple Glass company to recycle glass bottles.