Aluminium bottle

File:BudweiserAluminumBottle.jpg

Budweiser in aluminum bottles

The aluminum beverage bottle, also referred to in Asia as the bottlecan, is a bottle made entirely of aluminum that holds beer, soft drinks, alternative beverages and wine.

History & Overview

The aluminum beverage bottle made via the impact extrusion process was introduced to the North American beverage market in the fall of 2001 as an ecological alternative to plastic bottles by Coca-Cola under the Powerade brand (Psych and Raize) at the National Association of Convenience Stores NACSShow. The Powerade aluminum bottles were supplied by Exal Corporation. Youngstown,Ohio based Exal Corporation,the world's largest producer of impact extruded aluminum packaging, is the most significant supplier of aluminum bottles in North America & Europe including most bottles utilized by major brewers. The company also markets a new high speed technology, known as Coil to Can or (C2C), that allows for the manufacture of aluminum bottles at weights 30 - 40% below the weight of impact extruded bottles at 2 to 4 times the manufacturing speed. C2C technology also utilzes post consumer recycled (PCR) aluminum alloy to manufacture aluminum bottles. Hermitage, PA-based CCL Container a subsidiary of CCL Industries, a leading producer of recyclable aluminum bottles, packaging, aerosol containers and other specialty products, started developing bottles in 1989 in North America for non-beverage applications.

Products

• Two Japanese brewers, Sapporo Brewery of Tokyo and Kirin Brewery Company, officially introduced the aluminum beverage bottle in 2000 in Japan. * In Japan, over two billion recloseable bottle cans are sold each year.
• As mentioned above, the first aluminum bottles came to market in North American in 2001 as Coca-Cola marketed two new Powerade brand energy drinks in bullet-shaped, resealable aluminum bottles.
• In 2002 Alternative drink provider, Snapple, launched Mistic RE, its first energy drink, with a resealable, rocket-shaped aluminum bottle.
• Anheuser-Busch was the first major brewer to launch a national brand in an aluminum bottle in 2004. The success prompted the organization to double aluminum bottle production capacity in 2005 to support the Bud Light, Budweiser, Michelob Lager, Michelob Light, Michelob ULTRA and Anheuser World Select brands. The company has also introduced limited edition bottlecans that commemorate popular holidays and events. Special limited edition aluminum bottles have been marketed through licensing arrangements with Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League. Anheuser-Busch has utilized the aluminum bottle extensively in it's advertising even saluting,"Mr. Blue Aluminum Bottle Maker" believed to be Exal Corporation, as a part of the Bud Light® Real Men of Genius advertsing campaign.
• Pittsburgh Brewing Company was the first brewer to launch a multi region beer product in aluminum packaging. In 2004, it introduced Iron City Premium Lager in an aluminum beverage bottle. The company shipped 20,000 cases to distribution centers in 30 states and these initial units sold out within 24 hours of hitting the shelves. A photo of the Iron City aluminum bottle was the “most viewed” photo on Yahoo! the day following its launch and it was named one of Business Week’s “Best New Products of 2004" in its December 13th 2004 issue.
• Heineken introduced its H2 brand in an aluminum bottle in 2004.
• Vicor International, Inc., Canada’s largest marketer of wine and spirits, and Denmark-based Absolut Spirits Company, adopted the aluminum beverage bottle for their vodka-based beverages.
• In the Dominican Republic, Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana, the Dominican National Brewing Company, moved their premium products to aluminum beverage bottles.
• Bright Brothers, a Portugal-based winery, was the first company to introduce wine in aluminum bottles.
• In 2008 two North American marketers stepped forward in using light weight, C2C aluminum bottles. Blue Spike Beverages (Montreal) introduced Octane 7.0 a vodka/guarana based drink and Eaux Vives Water Inc. (Toronto & St. Mathieu) introduced ESKA still and sparking water.
• In early 2009 ViB Beverage, LLCintroduced the drink "Vacation In a Bottle" or ViB Relaxation Drink in an aluminum bottle produced by Exal Corporation. This functional "relaxation" beverage touts the amino acids L-Theanine and L-Threonine as ingredients that reduce stress and anxiety while powerful anti-oxidants,Pomegranate and Goji Berry contribute to refreshment.B-Vitamins are also offered as key functional ingredients. ViB has quickly captured the imagination of new media savvy consumers and social networkers with a presence on Facebook,myspace.com and Twitter. The ViB aluminum bottle also boasts a humorous mock American Idol audition posted on You Tube. ViB on You Tube
• Also in early 2009, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Coca-Cola, Samsung and Sapient introduced a dynamic, touch screen aluminum bottle vending machine that brings the latest interactive technology to the vending process. The completely interactive touchscreen front panel allows a potential buyer to scutinize a product prior to purchase - just like consumers do at a retail store. Consumers can select a Coca-Cola product, packaged in an aluminum bottle; give it a spin to peruse its ingredients, consider the package and review anything else they would like to know prior to purchase. The technology was documented on You TubeAluminum Bottle Touchscreen Vending.

Characteristics & Advantages

The aluminum bottlecan is made of 100 percent recyclable aluminum similar to that of an aluminum beverage can. However, it is shaped similar to a traditional beverage bottle, with many designs including resealable lids. A broad range of aluminum beverage bottle profiles, styles, and configurations, are available for commercial production, including “traditional,” “oval,” and “sport shapes.”

A variety of standard finishes are available for aluminum bottlecans that are designed to work with industry standard closures and caps, in addition to standard bottle filling operations. Some traditional finishes include: 26 mm standard crown cap, 38 mm lug finish, 38 mm continuous thread with plastic sleeve, 38 mm ROPP and 28 mm continuous thread finishes.

Beverage marketers choose aluminum bottlecans for many reasons, including the fact that they are resealable, recyclable and durable. The bottle itself serves as the label and bottles can also be shaped in a variety of ways.

"Cooler Longer" Claim

A study conducted by engineering science students at Loyola College in Maryland suggested that the liquid content of aluminum bottles stays slightly colder than the liquid content of glass bottles when allowed to warm at room temperature. These results were not corroborated by a 2005 study at Bucknell University, which found that "the fluid in the aluminum bottle cools much faster than the glass bottle, and once removed from a cold source and exposed to room temperature, the glass bottle remained cooler longer than the aluminum bottle." This conclusion is consistent with the fact that the thermal conductivity of aluminum (237 W/(m·K)) is significantly higher than that of glass (1.1 W/(m·K)). While the glass versus aluminum debate may make sense in connection with beer bottles, soft drinks are another matter. The majority of those bottles are currently plastic, while most beer bottles are glass.

Fabrication

Aluminum is a silver-white, soft metal and the most abundant metallic element, comprising 1/12th of the earth's crust. It must be combined with oxygen and other elements and processed to produce the aluminum used in bottlecans. Bottlecans are made from 100 percent recyclable aluminum through either an extrusion or Coil to Can (C2C) process to a wide range of shapes and sizes. Impact extruded bottles are produced with three times the aluminum of a traditional beer can, which provides for increased insulation. C2C bottles use 30%-40% to less aluminum than impact extruded aluminum bottles. Exal Corporation has pioneered the use C2C technology to manufacture aluminum bottles. In terms of sustainability aluminum bottles and cans are the most desirable product in the recycling stream as the use of recycled aluminum requires only 5% of the energy required to manufacture virgin aluminum. According to Earth911.com each year, the US aluminum industry pays $800 million dollars for empty aluminum bottles and cans to the benefit of communities, industry and the environment.

References

• Aluminum Manufacturers

External links

• Aluminum.org
• Images of Recent Aluminum Bottles
• Photos of Aluminum Bottles