Corrugated board is almost a thing of the past for customers of Coca-Cola Bottling Group, the company that operates two Texas production plants, Southwest Coca-Cola in Abilene and Coca-Cola Southwest in San Antonio. Last year, the two plants completed a conversion from corrugated trays to returnable high-density polyethylene trays for shipping soft drinks in cans. The trays are molded by Rehrig Pacific Co. (Los Angeles, CA).
This change comes nearly a decade after the firm did the same thing for shipping soft drinks in plastic bottles. In fact, that experience-especially the 40-plus trips those bottle "shells" typically achieve-were considered a guide for the results with the can tray. The shells have deep cavities that hold the bottles firmly and permit stacking on pallets.
