Sustainable Solutions for Drinks Packaging: Why Less Can Be More

With return rates of between 96 and 99 percent for non-alcoholic beverages, the German deposit systems for returnable and non-returnable packaging enable effective reuse and material cycles with high-quality recycling. Breweries and mineral springs have been using functioning reusable systems for more than 70 years. The 1,500 predominantly medium-sized breweries in Germany alone have around four billion returnable deposit bottles in circulation and thus achieve a returnable share of around 80 percent.

In addition, consumers and retailers increasingly want plastic-free bottle transport packaging that is still easy to transport. It should be lightweight, but at the same time easy to grip and stable. KHS is presenting the topic of circular packaging for beverages in multipacks: To join PET bottles and aluminum cans into containers, the Nature Multipack by KHS only requires the use of a few dots of adhesive instead of shrink film, paper, or cardboard. This means up to 85 percent less material consumption compared to conventional solutions, the company explains.

“Especially when handling heavier packs, conventional carrying handles made of plastic film are often perceived as cutting into hands. The haptic experience of the cardboard carrying handle, on the other hand, is much more pleasant. When the consumer grips the pack on the bottle clip carrier, its long sides bend upwards. This protects the palm of the hand from the punched edges and the bottle caps,” the company says. The cardboard is easy to remove and can be disposed of in wastepaper and thus recycled.

Container sizes of two to eight PET bottles with a capacity of 250 milliliters to 2 liters each are possible, explains KHS project manager Manfred van Triel. The small cardboard carrying handle is stable and still large enough to display product information and the multipack barcode. “It was important for us to find a form that was as simple as possible when it came to attaching it to the packer. What use is the best solution if it is so complex that it cannot be processed easily and quickly in our machines?” says van Triel.

This is why particular emphasis was placed on sophisticated logistics: The BottleClip Carrier is delivered in cartridges, i.e. in outer cartons, which are fed to the machine’s magazines in a straightforward loading process. “This is crucial for the performance of the system,” explains van Triel. Savings are made not only in terms of operating effort and material, but also in terms of space requirements: In particular, the new application module requires up to four meters less machine length in direct comparison to a machine that processes conventional film carry handles. This is a particularly relevant argument for beverage producers with limited production space.

DS Smith also has alternative bottle transport packaging in its portfolio and sees this as a trend. The “Eco-Carrier” solution generates a product bundle using a fiber-based band and thus represents an alternative to shrink wrap.

However, multipacks and individual containers can cause problems for retailers when it comes to return logistics: Glass bottles – whether returnable or non-returnable – can no longer be returned in crates. This often means that retailers no longer know how to collect and return the bottles. The beverage industry has been saying for years that reusable pool systems are preferable to individual containers for economic reasons and to protect the environment.

By Anna Ntemiris, editor