INTERNATIONAL
PVC beer bottles gaining market in Europe One West German brewer is already using them; others are using the plastic bottles in test markets Polyvinyl chloride bottles, already used extensively in western Europe to package cooking oils and vinegar, are showing signs of closing in on the beverage market. In West Germany, a number of brewers are test marketing their beer in PVC bottles. One, Schiffbrauerei Kaufbeuren, has started marketing part of its output in PVC bottles. In Sweden, Rigello Pak, A.B., has introduced a plastic-paper beer bottle. Currently Rigello is negotiating with Sweden's largest breweries and hopes to have the bottle ready for market late this year. This fall a major French mineral water producer, Vittel, will begin marketing flat (noncarbonated) water in 1.5-liter PVC bottles. A number of French wine producers are already marketing their ordinary red table wine in 1-liter and 1.5-liter PVC bottles. In the U.K., a noncarbonated concentrated fruit drink called Squash has been marketed in PVC bottles for several years. Today about 10%, or 35 million, of the total number of Squash drink bottles distributed are PVC. Still, the plastic has some drawbacks to overcome in its quest for beverage markets. The biggest one is the limitation of existing blow-molding equipment, which can't produce plastic bottles at speeds even close to those of glass bottle making machines. PVC compounds now available can't handle carbonated soft drinks. And there are signs of growing concern by city waste disposal officials over the problem of getting rid of one-way plastic bottles. High consumption. One of PVC's best bets for success, at least in Germany, appears to be beer. Current beer consumption in West Germany is about 127 liters (more than 33 gallons) per capita or about 7.9 billion liters (2.1 billion gallons) per year. (This compares with a U.S. per capita beer consumption in 1967 of 16.7 gallons or a total for the year of 3.3 billion gallons.) In West Germany about 65% is packaged in bottles. This works out to about 10 billion bottles of the 0.5-liter size—or a potential for well over 500 million pounds of PVC per year. But suppliers of PVC for the bottles, which include Huels, Solvay, Wacker, and Hoechst, don't have any illusions
of capturing the entire beer bottle market. However, the companies do see a growing market for PVC beer bottles in such areas as recreation—sporting events, picnics, and the like—and in air and rail transportation where the beverage is consumed en route. These two areas make up only a small percentage of the total beer bottle market but would account for 10 million pounds or more of plastic per year. West German brewers currently test marketing at least part of their output in PVC bottles include HenningerBrau, KGaA, in Frankfurt/Main, Paderborner Brauerei, GmbH, in Paderborn, and Sternbrauerei Carl Funke, A.G., in Essen. Henninger, one of Germany's largest brewers, has been selling its beer at soccer games in plastic bottles. Schiffbrauerei had the bottle in test markets for nearly a year before deciding to go commercial. All agree that consumer acceptance has been good. Schiffbrauerei's PVC-bottled beer is available in Bavarian supermarkets in six-packs. PVC-bottled beer will also be distributed in North-Rhine-Westphalia and in the Saar area. The brewer is buying the bottles from blow-molder Henrich Nicolaus Kunststoffverarbeitungswerk, GmbH, in Neuss. HNK is a subsidiary of Unilever. The bottle now being used by Schiffbrauerei holds 0.3 liter (11 ounces) but plans call for adding the 0.5-liter (17 ounces) size soon. The PVC bottle offers a number of advantages. These include no return, lower weight—about 30 grams (about 1 ounce) compared to the conventional glass bottle at about 180 grams (8.3 ounces), less breakage, and safer handling. Barrier properties, in terms of oxygen and carbon dioxide, are about the same as for conventional glass bottles. Hence, there is no reduction of beer quality in normal shelf life. Existing filling, labeling, and packaging lines can be used. The bottles do present some problems for brewers, most of which have been solved, says Dr. Wolfgang Wilborn of Hoechst's plastics technical applications department. Beer bottled in PVC can't be pasteurized as this operation requires temperatures 60° C. for an extended period—conditions which PVC can't withstand. This isn't
PLASTIC BOTTLES. Spectators at a soccer game buy beer in PVC bottles
a serious drawback, however, as 8 5 % of the beer brewed in Germany is not pasteurized. There have been problems in capping the bottles because of the pressure (600 p.s.i.) of the capping machine on the bottle brim. These have been largely overcome by improved bottle neck design. Because of their light weight, plastic bottles tend to tip out of line operations. Slight modifications in the line have solved this. Labeling difficulties have been cleared up by switching from dextrin-based adhesives to polyvinyl acetate emulsion adhesives. Shelf life, at about six weeks, is just as good as that of beer in conventional glass bottles, Dr. Wilborn says. As for cost, PVC bottles are in the range of one-way glass bottles. Halfliter one-way glass bottles cost about 11 pfennigs (2.5 cents). Metal cans (0.35 liter) at about 20 pfennigs (5 cents) are double the cost of one-way glass. Neither the one-way glass nor the metal container has made much headway in West Germany because JULY 15, 1968 C&EN
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