The Return of Refillable Bottles
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‘l’he return of re~ìllable bottles Refillable containers are an ancient tra- From 1950 to 1973, the number of soft dition. Aztecs, Mayans and other native drink bottling plants in the United States by Americans were using refillable clay con- decreased by 60 percent while sales in Scott Chaplin tainers centuries before other settlers set the industry increased by 276 percent. foot on the continent. Abigail Adams, Ben- During this period, many small bottlers Scott Chaplin wrote this article as a re- jamin Franklin, Harriet Tubman and were bought out, merged or folded as the search associate for the Institute for Local Thomas Jefferson all lived in times when 20 largest bottlers increased their markei Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C. He is nearly all bottles were washed and share from 20 to 32 percent (2). As a bot-, now employed with the Rocky Mountain reused. tling company expanded its market share Institute in Snowmass. Colorado. Although there is a general perception by increasing the geographic range of iti that the use of refillable bottles has de- distribution network, the conveniente oi clined everywhere, this trend is not uni- one-way containers became more attraq versal. Recent concern about the environ- tive. For large bottlers to compete in local, ment, coupled with favorable economics markets where refillables had a cost ad-’ Although the use of refill- has led to an increase in the use of refill- vantage over throwaway bottles, small able bottles has declined 8 ables in some areas. bottlers needed to be removed as a com! over the last 30 years, en- petitive forte for the most costly ec! Thirty years of change onomics of conveniente to succeed. s vironmental and economic I To understand the environmental and Statistics on tri e rates are hard t concerns are leading to their economic effects of using refillable glass growing use. bottles, one must first assess how many times - or trips - a bottle goes from the bottler to the customer and back. The number of times a bottle is refilled their bottles five to SIX times per yea is known as “trippage.” According to average, however, is probably I Douglas Dichting, manager of Coca- While one Michigan Coca-Cola bottler Cola’s recycling planning and programs, ported that between 98 and 99 percen in the 1950s refillable Coke bottles aver- his company’s refillable bottles were aged 50 trippages; today the average for turned for refilling, a Texas Coca-C Coke bottles has fallen to 8.5 (1). Pepsi- bottler reported a return rate of only Cola reports -current trippage rates be- percent. tween 5 and 20 in various locations in The higher rate of retur Canada. dueto the well-developed The decline in trippage rates parallels frastructure that exists in the decline in the refillable glass bottle’s share of the container market. Dichting identified the cause of the decline to changing consumer lifestyles that de- is sold. The cont manded more “convenient” packaging, are sorted at the but small soft drink bottling companies claim the move to one-way containers was part of a concerted effort by larger bottling companies to dominate the mar- not uncommon to find a bottle on ket. While the advent of the “throwaway store shelf that was manufactured in tN society” in the 1950s certainly hastened early 1970s. One Pennsylvania soft dii the demise of refillables, the effect of in- bottler used bottles that were manufa? creasing market consolidation by large tured, on average, in the mid-1960s s c. bottlers on the decline of refillables is less some that were manufactured as far bah clear. as 1926. and soft drinks have the lowest impact OI the environment when trippage rates are above six to 10 (3). 7 It is generally agreed that the mos energy efficient and environmentall! friendly containers are refillable glass bot Environmental effects they are actually refilled. The major tles for single-serving (M-liter or less) bee. Refillable bottles affect the environment studies on the effects of containers indi- and soft drink containers (3). While larger less than one-way containers, but only if cate that refillable glass bottles for beer beverage containers, such as half-gallon A RECYCLING IDEA ea I’HAT GOES RIGHT To THE TOI PaPer preserve the environment Ideal For All Your Recycling Needs l Leaf and yard waste composting l Newspaper recycling l Aluminum, glass and plastic container collection and recycling l Household trash and garbage ---. ~LOBESUPPORTSRE~KLING~DA SUSTAINABLEFUTURE. l Biodegradable -’ l Moisture Proof l Self Standing 0 40,30, or 13.5 gallon capa& Globe Bullding MaterIalS. Inc. 2230 Indianapolis Boulevard l Also available 50% recycled Whlting. IN 46394 219-473-4545 +L. ,:s*I I 31 oxford road mansfield, ma 02048 (508)339-9300 Circle 217 on RR service card . -- I *\ Pennsylvania bottler Peter Chokola seis Economics soft drinks in bottles that are over 18 At the retail level, beverages are generally years old (1). Major brands of beer and soft less expensive in a refillable container drinks are still availabie in refillables in the than in the same one-way container. Pre- U.S. (2and3). liminary results from a price survey being conducted by the United States Public In- terest Research Group indicates that most brands of beer and soft drinks are 20 to 40 percent cheaper when purchased they are refilled. Accordincl to E. Gifford in a refillable container than the same bev- Stabk of the National Soft ¡%nk Associa- erage in the same size one-way container tion, refillable glass bot-tles are absolutely (sale prices excluded). safe and sanitary. Colleen Newell, a representative of the 3 w ate lnd gallon sizes, are available in both re- bllable glass and refillable plastic, only ie Jlass is used for single-serving refillable me containers in the United States. las A 1989 study by Franklin Associates !SS mmpared i6-ounce (almost Witer) re- ile fillable glass bottles with 16-ounce poly- llf-l ethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bot- TURWIWGUWMANAGEABLE - Ues, 12-ounce aluminum cans and sev- eralother sizes of one-way glass and PET SCRAP... I containers, including three-liter PET bot- Powerful Sweed Choppers set you free tles. The Franklin study showed that at from the hassle and cut the cost of current recycling rates, a 16-ounce re- scrap disposal! They dramatically cut w fillable glass bottle refilled eight times has the lowest atmospheric emissions and waterwastes impact of any of the alterna- of those unwanted materials that crowd into valuable lies, including three-liter PET bottles. In addition, the study showed that even if floor space, hamper efficient production and cause .~nrefillable containers were made from housekeeping and safety problems. @O percent recycled materials, and if re- Sweed Choppers pay for themselves by providing fillables were used 20 times, refillables Wuld still have the lowest impact for more operating space, increasing ‘be types of emissions. productivity and producing ! in terms of solid waste, refillables are premium-priced recyclable scrap JW’of the lowest waste generators. At :MaY’s recycling rates, according to the from unwanted wíre, strap, bands, Lffmklin study, a 16-ounce glass bottle seals, tubing, cable, extrusions, plas- refilledeight times generates far less solid tics and steel bar. e than other single-serving contain- the exception of 12-ounce alu- :pum cans. Most of the solid waste cal- . ..lHTOMAWAGEABLE ASSETS. wted for the refillable bottles was due bunrecycled broken or discarded bottles gh caps, carriers, pallets and min: tes were also taken into account bottles pose no health threats Sweed Mzhinery, Inc. rs. Bottle washing plants in tates use high technology op- P.O. Box 228 l Gold Hill, Oregon 97525 aromatic contamination detec- Toll Pree 1-800-888-1352 sure that bottles are free of sub- (503) 855-1512l Fax (503) 855-1165 Bottles are washed and rinsed l times at high temperatures before 0 1990. Sweed Machinmy, Lnc Clrcle 184 on RR service card Ontario Soft Drink Association and an em- approximately half as much as the con- when they shop. Aluminum cans, which ployee of Pepsí-Cola in Canada, recently taíner ítself. The cost of containers varíes are often the most expensive beer and stated that one of the main selling points wídely, depending on the quantity or- soft drínk contaíners, are also the most of soft drinks sold in refillables was the dered, delivery distances and other fac- popular in the United States. For example, 30 percent cost savings to consumers. In tors. A brief survey of severa1 suppliers alumínum cans captured about half of the 1989, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola showed that 12-ounce aluminum cans beer market ín 1989 (see Table 1). conducted studies in Canada that com- cost approximately 8.0 to 8.5 cents each, In addition to the lower cost to the con- pared the consumer price for their product 12-ounce bí-metal cans cost 7.5 to 8.0 sumer over the lífe of the container, the sold in refillables compared to nonre- cents per can, 16-ounce PET bottles cost use of refíllable glass bottles yields other fillables. In both studies, 16 ounces of bev- 7.5 to 8.0 cents each, one-way 16-ounce economic benefits. Refillable bottle sys- erage averaged approximately 4.5 cents glass bottles cost 9.0 to 13.8 cents, and in nonrefillables and 30 cents in refillables refíllable l&ounce glass bottles cost ap- (in Canadian funds). proximately 20 to 30 cents each. W Table 1 - Estimated draught A comparison of milk sold in refillable Many bottlers prefer customized re- and container sharc and nonrefillable plastic containers fillables.