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 RateBeer Weekly Magazine > FeaturesGreen Beer, Part 2
PACKAGING AND MATERIALS
October 21, 2004
No matter what style of beer a brewery produces, or how much they produce in a year, every brewery has to figure out how to deliver the beer to those thirsty customers, and eager Ratebeerians. Brewpubs can avoid the issue of packaging altogether by serving product directly from the bright beer tank, but most breweries distribute their product in one of three packaging formats: kegs, bottles, or cans. Less frequently used packaging alternatives include ’growlers’ (refillable jugs often used by brewpubs) and PET plastic bottles. Packaging choices have a significant environmental impact, but are sometimes based on marketing goals rather than environmental or economic rationale. Of the three formats, draft beer requires the least packaging materials per serving of beer. Changes to kegging processes, such as reusing caustic cleaning solutions or installing a heat recovery system to the keg washer can yield significant water and energy savings. Similar efficiency improvements can also be made to the bottling line. Properly insulated bottle washers, pasteurizers and piping use less energy, and also reduce the use of heating and cooling systems in the packaging area. Many people feel that pasteurization negatively affects the flavor of the beer, and choosing not to use heat pasteurizing also results in an energy savings on the bottling line. Optimizing washing and rinsing cycles saves on water and chemical use. Ensuring that conveyors do not run without load saves electricity as well as reducing use of lubricants and wear and tear on the machines. Dematerialization The one-way glass beer bottles often used in the US weigh dramatically less than the Canadian Industry Standard Bottle. So much so that they can seem quite fragile to consumers used to the heft of Canadian bottles. Since bottles are typically not reused they can be less durable and more lightweight. Similar materials reductions in aluminum cans have yielded large energy and materials savings in the beer and soft drinks industries. This is typical of a North American trend towards declining total weight of materials consumed. Researchers such as Iddo Wernick study this phenomenon of dematerialization. In broad terms, dematerialization refers to a reduction in the quantity of materials required to serve economic functions. Studying dematerialization is more complicated than energy because it cannot be reduced to a single indicator such as kilowatt-hours or British thermal units. A pound of aluminum cannot be compared with a pound of glass because each material possesses unique properties defining their value and usage, and have varying environmental and energy use consequences. All these measures must be incorporated in a study of dematerialization. Beverage containers provide a convenient case study of dematerialization in practice. Containers have generally become lighter over time. 1950s beverage containers were predominately steel or glass, with the first steel soft-drink can marketed in 1953. As it gained public acceptance heavier glass containers began to lose market share. A decade later aluminum cans debuted and grew from a 2% market share in the 1960s to almost 97% of the American beer market in the 1980s. Already about a third the density of steel, the aluminum can was itself lightened by 25 percent between 1973 and 1992. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin containers began to occupy a significant portion of the market in the mid 1970s, especially for large containers, where heavy glass containers had been the norm. The declining weight of materials used can be seen as a result of shifts to lighter materials, and technological innovations, however, while the weight of materials used may be declining, the volume of materials is increasing, primarily due to increased use of plastics. Polymer plastics are "manufacturer friendly" because of their flexibility, allowing them to be used for anything from drink containers to car bumpers. Some believe plastics are by-products of the car industry because the primary components for making plastic are oil and natural gas. The "de-carbonization" of the energy system and the accumulations of plastics may encourage greater plastics recycling in the future, but high levels of customization of different plastics makes separation and reuse very difficult. An argument can be made that the lighter the container is, the less fuel is required to transport the product, but it generally seems to be the case that the more times materials are re-used or recycled the better. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle The Brewers of Canada estimate that almost 70% of beer sold is packaged in returnable and reusable bottles, and return rates are high across Canada (97% return rates in most provinces). Aluminum cans make up approximately 19% of national beer sales, while draught beer accounts for the remaining 11%. Cans are crushed and recycled while kegs are reusable and have a lifespan of 15-20 years. Materials make up a significant part of the costs, waste produced and total energy used in packaging due to the energy used in their fabrication. Producing aluminum from ore is extremely energy intensive (and highly polluting), and requires many times more energy than the same amount of aluminum from recycled material. Refillable bottles can be reused 15-20 times resulting in large material and energy savings. As shown in the table below, a refillable bottle uses less than a third of the energy per use of other packaging types. Prince Edward Island has one of the highest refilling rates in the world, using a combination of deposits and outright bans on one-way containers. Prince Edward Island introduced regulations prohibiting beer sales in non-refillable containers in 1977, and has reuse rates averaging 98% each year. <Center> <table width="400" border=1> <TR><td colspan=2 align=center><font size=+1>Energy Consumption per use for 12 oz. Beverage Containers</font></td></tr> <TR align=center><TD>Container</td><TD>Energy Use (BTU’s)</TD></tr> <TR><TD>Aluminum can used once</td><TD> 7050</td></tr> <TR><TD>Steel can used only once</td><TD> 5950</td></tr> <TR><TD>Glass bottle used only once</td><TD> 3730</td></tr> <TR><TD>Recycled steel can </td><TD>3880</td></tr> <TR><TD>Recycled aluminum can</td><TD> 2550</td></tr> <TR><TD>Recycled glass bottle </td><TD>2530</td></tr> <TR><TD>Refillable glass bottle used 10 times </td><TD>610</td></tr> <TR><TD colspan=2><font size=-1>Source:"Energy and Material Use." In Saving the Planet: How To Shape An Environmentally Sustainable Global Economy</font></td></tr> </table> </center> Centralized distribution and bottle return sites such as government run liquor stores and The Beer Store in Canada help facilitate high bottle return rates. This process is aided in part by the fact that many brewers have signed a bottling agreement under which they agree to only use the 341 mL Industry Standard Bottle (ISB). This means that any brewery may draw bottles from a collective pool of used bottles. Breweries that are unable to make use of used bottles with their equipment can sell their bottle pool allotment to those who can. Brewer’s Retail outlets have such a high rate of packaging recovery that the success of their programs is recognized in waste legislation. Ontario’s Bill 90 contains a provision, exempting Brewers Retail Inc. and brewers selling beer through The Beer Store from contributing to blue box programs provided the criteria specified in the regulations are satisfied. Reuse and recycling of other materials is also important in terms of total energy use. All of the breweries responding to the survey mentioned efforts to recycle cardboard, office paper, and other recyclables. Black Oak Brewing for example receives its glass bottles in cardboard boxes of 24, which are reused as six pack carriers for deliveries to retail outlets. A neighboring company picks up other types of boxes for reuse as shipping containers. It is clear that the packaging aspects of getting beer to us have significant ramifications for the environment, particularly on how much energy is used, but brewers typically have a fair bit of flexibility when making these choices. They are not afforded the same level of discretion in managing the waste produced by the brewing process – in order to make beer on a commercial scale you will always need a lot of malt and a lot of water. Next week I will take a look at ways breweries are working to minimize this waste, and make use of the wastes that cannot be avoided. As I mentioned last week, if you know of brewers that are going great things for the environment drop me a Beermail and share the good news. (Or even better send me some of their beer!) ................................................................
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