Miller's Plastic Beer Bottle Performs Well, But Could Rankle Recyclers

Miller Brewing Co.'s new plastic beer bottle has performed well in lab testing, however concerns are brewing among recycling advocates.

In test marketing the five-layer PET, oxygen-scavenging bottles, Miller has rolled out more than 30 million units of 20-oz. and 1 L single-serve packages of Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft and Icehouse in Los Angeles and five other markets. The company is the first brewer to introduce a plastic beer bottle in the United States. Laboratory tests of the bottles show favorable oxygen removal and flavor preservation qualities.

Developed in conjunction with Continental PET Technologies, a unit of Owens-Illinois Inc., Miller's widemouth plastic bottle with screw-on cap reportedly achieves the same four-month shelf-life as glass bottles and aluminum cans, and, the company says, keeps the beer as fresh during that period as in glass or aluminum. The multi-layer design and special barrier layers in the plastic package, a proprietary technology of Continental PET Technologies, allow the natural carbonation of the beer to be effectively maintained while preventing air from harming product freshness and drinkability. The plastic bottles, which are being produced in amber for Miller Lite and Icehouse and clear for MGD — the same as with glass bottles — also stay cold at least as long as glass, and longer than cans, says Miller.

However, although all of Miller's plastic bottles will be marked with a "1-PETE" recycling designation and are recyclable, public officials and the GrassRoots Recycling Network say the plastic bottles will impede plastics recycling. Rick Best, chair of the GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN) and policy director of Californians Against Waste, notes that the Miller plastic beer bottle's amber tint, new interior barrier material and metal cap and label make it incompatible with today's plastics recycling stream. These elements, he suggests, increase costs for plastics recycling and cause such serious contamination that recyclers who handle the Miller bottle will not be able to sell their reclaimed plastic to high-value markets. With many plastics recyclers struggling already, he says, this combination of increased costs and lost revenues could literally drive them out of business.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter will introduce a resolution Friday for action by the city council that calls on Miller to take responsibility for making its new container compatible with the city's recycling program before introducing it more widely. Officials from the cities of Madison, WI, and San Diego, CA, are also contacting Miller to urge the company to address the bottle's adverse impacts on recycling before it is introduced nationally.

"Miller's plastic beer bottle jeopardizes plastics recycling in Los Angeles and across the country," said Best. "Miller's actions make it clear that the environment and recycling are taking a back seat to marketing considerations. Miller must make sure its bottle is compatible with our recycling systems before it is introduced nationally."

The GrassRoots Recycling Network called on Miller Brewing Co. Wednesday to make the following commitments before rolling out the bottle nationwide:

• Ensure that the bottle is compatible with current PET recycling.

• Ensure that the bottle will not increase recycling costs for local governments and recyclers.

• Use at least 25% recycled content in all bottles.

"Plastics recycling is in a downward spiral," said George Dreckmann, recycling coordinator for the city of Madison, WI. "Miller's bottle will only make things worse, unless the company takes responsibility for its new bottle. Miller should buy back its used plastic beer bottles at a price that covers the cost of processing them. Miller should also incorporate recycled content into the bottles themselves."

"It will be local governments and taxpayers who pay the higher costs for recycling or disposing of unmarketable material," Best said. A four-page fact sheet on the Miller plastic beer bottle is on the GrassRoots Recycling Network's web site at http://www.grrn.org/wasters/html.