When consumers make a purchase at retail, they don’t always consider the lifecycle of the product.  

The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, as well as Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford Motor Co., Pittsburgh-based The H.J. Heinz Co., Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike Inc. and Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble announced the formation of the Plant PET Technology Collaborative (PTC), a strategic working group focused on accelerating the development and use of 100 percent plant-based PET materials and fiber in their products.

Uncle Matt’s Organic announced the addition of a new 12-ounce line of premium organic juices in its most popular juice varieties: Pulp-free Orange, Calcium with Vitamin D Orange, Orchard–Style Apple, Grapefruit, and Homestyle Lemonade.

A comical line in the digital animation film “The Lorax” quips that if you put something in a plastic bottle, people will buy it. Although the joke is meant as a mockery of selling bottled air, many beverage categories have emerged in bottles in the last couple of years.

Packaging can be an important, yet difficult decision for beverage-makers. In this month’s category focus article about kids drinks, Sarah Theodore, global drinks analyst for Mintel Food & Drink, Chicago, notes that the kids market has been a little bit slow to embrace packaging innovation, but is starting to pick up steam. However, resealable pouch packages, the benefits of which include on-the-go convenience, have begun to catch on in the category, she says.

The phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” that children are taught in elementary school is among the numerous messages designed to educate consumers about recycling efforts. But even with the many ways to inform people about recycling, associations, manufacturers and beverage companies continually work to spread the word about programs and initiatives.

Hawaii-based premium natural water company Hawaiian Springs LLC announced its bottles will bear the emblem for Preserving Paradise, the conservation initiative the company launched this spring.

Last month, redesigned Honest Tea and Honest Ade PET bottles began hitting store shelves. Honest Tea, the Bethesda, Md.-based wholly owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola, initiated the packaging design changes more than three years ago.

New packaging designs from Naked Juice, Seattle’s Best Coffee and several spirits companies.

Taking place in conjunction with the first two days of drinktec, PETnology Europe showcases innovative materials, new technologies and machine designs combined with sustainable, economically viable packaging solutions within the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) value chain.

Read More