13 Jul 2009
The world's largest manufacturer of drinks cans, Rexam Beverage Can, has developed an aluminium bottle it claims will boast a significantly smaller carbon footprint than traditional glass bottles.
John Revess, vice president of marketing and environmental affairs for the company in Europe, told BusinessGreen.com that talks were underway with a number of customers about using the bottle for beer, carbonated drinks and even wine.
"We need to build a customer base if we are to move to manufacture," he said. "But there has already been strong interest and we are hoping to get customers in place over the next six months."
He said the aluminium bottles would be "an order of magnitude" lighter than glass bottles, adding that the prototype bottle developed by the company weighed just 20 grams.
"As it is lighter, you get huge carbon and energy savings across the supply chain through manufacture and distribution," Revess argued. "Aluminium is also easier to recycle than glass and can be recycled again and again."
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WHAT DO YOU THINK? Add your comment
Brain
Do they have something to protect the brains of people using the bottles?
Posted by SSP, 18 Oct 2009
Research
On behalf of Rexam, I would like to thank the above individuals for their comments and questions. They are completely valid and I will do my best to answer. I agree that it is very important to understand the entire life cycle of a package. The Beverage Can Makers Europe trade body has been studying the life cycle of the beverage can for the past few years with experts. The carbon footprint of a metal pack really depends on what happens at the end of its life ? whether or not it is recycled. This is because metal is infinitely recyclable and there is a substantial energy saving in recycling so a metal can's carbon footprint is impacted by the energy saved during the recycling process ? the higher the recycling rate the lower the carbon footprint. Recycling metal avoids using primary (virgin) material, which protects the earth?s precious resources, and recycling uses up to 20 times less energy. We have conducted numerous focus groups across Europe around the aluminium bottle and the feedback has been positive. The participants did not perceive a difference in the taste of the beverages and many preferred the aluminium bottle.
Posted by Carly Fielding, 01 Oct 2009
curoius
as i understand the aluminum manufacturing process it is a heavy electric power consumer. the raw material ( bauxite?) also seems to travel thousands of miles to be processed. are these carbon footprint items being taken into consideration? lastly for the consumer prospective, what does a beer taste like coming out of an aluminum container?? could be a hurdle.
Posted by JB Karl, 16 Jul 2009
aluminum is not greener than glass
In order to consider the ENTIRE greeness of a product you must look at its entire life cycle - not just weight. Aluminum is known to cause a number of illnesses in people - all within the dementia illnesses and since we are part of the environment - aluminum is not better than the plastic which also is not healthy for the environment. I don't understand why companies don't take all factors into consideration before making such a toxic decision. Looking at one small facet of an item and considering it green is pure and simply incompetent. The only container thus far that is actually green for the environment, including humans, is glass! Unless you can produce a container which conclusively does not allow elements to leach into the liquid it contains, then you've not produced a green container - regardless of its weight.
Posted by Kathleen, 16 Jul 2009