When Packaging World magazine last reported on Miller Brewing's plastic beer bottle (see April '00, p. 2 or packworld.com/go/beer), the Milwaukee-based firm was in the process of replacing the bottle's aluminum roll-on, pilfer-proof (ROPP) closure and paper label with components that would make the bottle easier to recycle. PW recently spotted the new closure in a Chicago supermarket, where four of the 16-oz plastic beer bottles in a paperboard carrier were selling for $4.29. Riverwood Intl. (Atlanta, GA) supplies the basket carrier.
Supplied by Owens-Illinois (Toledo, OH), the injection-molded polypropylene closure includes an oxygen barrier that O-I chooses not to identify. Unlike the aluminum closure, the PP material separates more readily from the predominantly polyethylene terephthalate bottle material during the float/sink process that recyclers use to reclaim the bottle material, says Miller's Mary Hartzheim, manager of regulatory affairs.
