USA: MillerCoors says sales jumped after it switched 32-ounce and 40-ounce beer bottles from glass to plastic

MillerCoors LLC saw a jump in sales when it switched 32-ounce and 40-ounce beer bottles from glass to plastic in 2014, Waste Dive reported on October 6.

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."

07 October, 2015