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The major advantage of straight-line (vs. rotary) cappers

is that they generally do not require change parts, and cap

and container sizes can be changed with little downtime.

Rotary Continuous-Motion Cappers. Rotary cappers use

many heads in combination in a rotary arrangement that

permits high speeds: 40–700/min (see Figure 7). The speed

of application of one cap by one head is limited, but rotary

cappers can achieve 700/min through the use of 24 heads.

(Production speeds are always related to the size of

container and cap. Rotary machines are available with

more than 24 heads, but 700/min is a rough upper limit.)

Extra Features. Most of the automatic machines can be

supplied with optional equipment for ﬂushing with inert

gas. A time existed when application torque could be

measured only by testing removal torque, but today’s

capping machinery is equipped with sensors that provide

continuous measurement and constant readouts.

CAPPERS FOR VACUUM CLOSURES

Three basic types of vacuum closure exist and are as

follows: pryoff side-seal; lug; and presson twistoff. The

pryoff side-seal closure, the earliest type of vacuum clo-

sure, has a rubber gasket to maintain the vacuum in the

container. This type of closure has been displaced in the

United States by the other two types. The vacuum is

generally achieved by a steam ﬂush (2), which also softens

the plastisol to facilitate sealing.

Lug Closures. Lug closures have 4–6 lugs that grip onto

special threads in the bottle ﬁnish as well as a ﬂowed-in

plastisol liner (gasket). The lugs mate with the threads

with a half turn. This process is almost always done by

straight-line machinery that incorporates two belts mov-

ing at different speeds. Maximum production speed with

this type of closure and machinery is about 700/min.

Press-On Twist-Off Closures. These closures are used

primarily on baby-food jars, but they now are being used

on other products as well. One of the reasons for their

increasing popularity is the very high production speeds

attainable. Like lug closures, they have a plastisol liner,

but the liner is molded for high precision. Unlike lug

closures, the skirt of the closure is straight. The seal is

achieved when the plastisol softens and conforms to the

bottle threads. Unlike threaded closures—which require

multiple turns—and lug closures—which require a half-

turn—presson twistoff closure require no turn at all. They

are applied by a single belt that presses the closure onto

the bottle at very high speed (e.g., over 1000/min on baby

food jars). These closures are held on by vacuum, which is

Figure 5. Barrel cam arrangement (1).

Figure 6. Roller screw capping (1).

Figure 7. (a) Straight-line and (b) rotary capping (1).

218 CAPPING MACHINERY

achieved by sweeping the headspace with steam. The use

of these closures was limited at one time by a requirement

of reduced pressure of at least 22 in. of mercury (74.5 kPa)

to hold them on. Not all products beneﬁt from that degree

of vacuum. A recent development is the ability to use these

closures with a much lesser degree of vacuum.

CAPPERS FOR ROLLON CLOSURES

A rollon closure has no threads before it is applied. An

unthreaded (smooth) cap shell (sleeve) is placed over the

top of the bottle, and rollers in a chuck (see Figure 8) form

the threads to conform with the threads on the bottle

ﬁnish. The chucks are raised and lowered by capper

heads. These closures are available with and without a

pilferproof band that is a perforated extension of the skirt.

If such a band exists, it is rolled on by a special roller in

the chuck. Operating speeds of the machines are in

roughly the same range as rotary cappers for CT closures:

up to 700/min.

CAPPERS FOR PRESSON CLOSURES

The familiar crown closure for carbonated beverage bot-

tles is one type of presson closure. The cap is applied by

rotary machines that can operate with production rates of

over 1000/min (see Figure 9). Other types of presson

closures are snap-ﬁt caps, with or without a tamper-

evident band; dispensing caps, which are often secondary

closures; and overcaps.

Like screw caps, press-on caps can be applied by

chucks or rollers, but the chucks and rollers do not need

twisting action, nor clutches for torque control. Several

approaches exist for controlling the amount of pressure

applied by chuck-type cappers. The capper head can be

spring operated, with tension controlled by a collar

adjustment; or a pneumatic clutch can control it with

air pressure; or a barrel cam can be used. On a roller-

type presson capper, the cap passes under one (shallow

cap) or more (deeper cap) rollers that press the cap on

tight.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. C. Glenn Davis, ‘‘Bottle Closing’’ Packaging Machinery Opera-

tions, Vol. 6, Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute,

Washington, DC, 1981.

2. Lisa M. Wedding, Canned Foods: Principles of Thermal Process

Control, Acidiﬁcation, and Container Closure Evaluation, The

Food Processors Institute, Washington, DC, 2007.

CARBONATED BEVERAGE PACKAGING

A. L. G RIFF

Edison Technical Services

Updated by Staff

INTRODUCTION

Carbonated beverages represent the biggest single packa-

ging market, with over 100 billion (10

) beer and soft-

drink containers ﬁlled each year in the United States.

According to beverage marketing, every person in the

United States consumes about 192 gallons of liquid per

year. This translates to 3.7 gallons per week or 2 liters/day.

Nonalcoholic drinks comprise 87% of the total, and carbo-

nated soft drinks account for 28% of the nonalcoholic types

(1). The packages cost substantially more than the con-

tents and are actually the beverage producer’s largest

expense item. Performance requirements are quite severe:

Because the contents are under pressure, they must hold

their carbonation and must withstand summer storage

and (for beer) pasteurization temperatures that may reach

55–601C. Furthermore, the highly competitive nature of

this business has brought container design and manufac-

turing to a highly reﬁned level in order to keep cost to a

minimum. Even $0.001 per container becomes big busi-

ness when multiplied by the billions (10

) of containers

made and used.

Figure 8. Applications of roll-on closures (1).

Figure 9. Roller application of presson closures (1).

CARBONATED BEVERAGE PACKAGING 219

PACKAGE TYPES

There are four major categories of carbonated beverage

container: plastic bottles, nonreturnable glass, reﬁllable

glass, and metal cans.

Plastic Bottles

These are mainly 2-L soft-drink bottles, which ﬁrst

appeared in the mid-1970s and in just a few years took

over around one-third of the soft-drink sales volume. The

bottles are stretch-blowmolded (see Blow molding) from

PET polyester (see Polyesters, thermoplastic). The

stretching (orientation) is needed to get maximum tensile

strength and gas barrier, which in turn enables bottle

weight to be low enough to be economical. Because mate-

rial cost is about two-thirds of total manufacturing cost,

such weight savings are essential. Typical 2-L bottle

weights are around 60 g PET, with some as low as 50 g,

plus a high-density polyethylene base cup (18–24 g), a

label (3 g), and a closure. One design uses no base cup;

instead, the bottle itself forms ﬁve petal-like feet at the

base. It uses slightly more PET (65–70 g), but total weight

is less because of the absence of the base cup.

A 3-L PET bottle has been used, with weights around

80–85 g PET plus 22–28 g for the base cup, or around 90 g

without the base cup. Although the 3-L may not be as

popular as the 2-L bottle in terms of size (too large for

most refrigerator-door shelves), it is more economical.

Half-liter PET has been offered since 1979 but has

never caught on because it does not provide enough

economic incentive to change; and in small sizes, the

advantages of safety and light weight are not as signiﬁ-

cant. Instead of 0.5-L, 16-oz (473-mL), PET is now offered

to compete more directly with 16-oz (473-mL) glass and to

save a gram or two of bottle weight because of the smaller

volume (6% less than the half-liter). Typical bottle weights

for these small PET containers are 28–30 g plus a 5-g base

cup. Some cupless designs have been developed but have

only minor commercial use thus far.

In the deposit-law states, small plastic bottles are more

successful because come consumers do not like the hand-

ling and return of glass and are unwilling to pay more for

metal cans. In these 11 states, however, which represent

over 20% of the population, the 2-L PET bottle has been

the real winner, because many people prefer to pay one

deposit instead of six (see Recycling).

It is believed that an improved plastic barrier to CO

loss (see Barrier polymers) would allow lighter (hence

cheaper) bottles and thus spark the large-scale use of

single-service sizes for soft drinks and also open up the

beer market to plastic. Such containers are the object of

much development, both in can and bottle forms (see

Cans, plastic).

Plastic bottles of all sizes usually carry full wraparound

labels, either a shrunk polyoleﬁn sleeve or a glued poly-

propylene/paper laminate (see Labels and labeling). Some

plastic bottles have foamed plastic labels, which have a

desirable nonslip feel and offer a little thermal insulation.

These used to be very large, extending down over the

base cup for maximum advertising effect (Owens-Illinois

Label-Lite) but lately have been in conventional wrap-

around form and size (Owens-Illinois Plasti-Grip).

Nonreturnable Glass

These are mainly 10- or 16-oz (296- or 473-mL) size, with a

Plastishield (Owens-Illinois and licensees) foam-plastic

protective label or a paper/polyoleﬁn rollfed or an all-

plastic shrink sleeve (see Bands, shrink). Typical bottle

weights are around 130–140 g and 180–185 g, plus 3–4 g

for the label. The glass industry has strongly promoted

these containers in competition with metal cans, both in

retail markets and in vending machines. Glass has an

apparent cost advantage, which carries through to retail

level and has managed to hold onto its market share in

this size. However, the advantage in container cost is

eroded by labels, closures, secondary packaging, ﬁlling

speeds, and occupied space, plus the possibility of break-

age and costs of clean-up. In all of these aspects, cans have

an edge.

Prelabeling has become standard. The labels are pre-

printed and come to the bottler with no need for a further

printing operation. Patch labels are cheaper and better

for short runs, but are disliked by retailers because the

bottles can be turned to obscure the labels.

The old crown closure that had to be pried off has all

but disappeared for nonreturnables and is seen only on

reﬁllable glass to allow use of bottles with corresponding

threadless necks (see Closures). The nonreturnables and

even some reﬁllables use roll-on aluminum screw caps on

threaded necks, with a tamper-evident ring (see Tamper-

evident packaging). The threaded screw-off crowns that

are crimped over a ﬁne-threaded neck remain, but in

diminishing numbers despite low cost. They are harder

to open and are thus used mainly for beer (stronger

hands), and their lack of tamper protection has discour-

aged their use.

The use of plastic closures for both glass and plastic

bottles increased in 1984 after a decade of trial use and

design reﬁnement. The two most popular designs use a

separate liner, but there are linerless designs as well.

These closures weigh around 3 g in standard 28-mm size

and are slightly more expensive than competitive alumi-

num roll-ons. All unscrew and ﬁt over the same threads as

the roll-ons and have some visible indication of tampering.

Initial successes have been with soft drinks; a few have

been tried for beer, but they have not been accepted due to

their inability to withstand pasteurization.

Reﬁllable Glass

The reﬁllable glass bottle is still used is some markets. O-I

Global is the primary supplier of glass bottles to the beer

industry and produces returnable beer bottles (3). The

main sizes are 16-oz (473-mL) for soft drinks and 12-oz

(355-mL) for beer, with some soft drinks also in sizes

around a quart. It is usually the cheapest way to buy

soft drinks on a unit price basis (except where 2-L bottles

are being discounted), but most consumers prefer to pay a

little more for convenience. In deposit states, reﬁllables do

better but remain a minor factor, after 2-L PET and metal

cans. Typical bottle weight is around 300 g for the 16-oz

220 CARBONATED BEVERAGE PACKAGING

(473-mL) soft-drink bottle and is 250 g for a 12-oz (355-

mL) beer bottle that is used in bars and hotels where

economy is foremost and delivery/return is not a problem.

Labels on major-brand soft drink reﬁllables may be

permanently silk-screened. Paper/plastic patch labels

are used on most reﬁllable beer bottles. Full wraparound

labels are seldom seen because the containers are usually

sold in six-packs or cases that cover most of the label area.

The economics of reﬁllables is very different from that

of other containers, because the bottler must support a

‘‘ﬂoat’’ of containers and cases (which may cost as much

as the containers themselves), as well as a larger ﬂeet of

delivery trucks (less compact, must stop to pick up as well

as deliver), and the appropriate cleaning and washing

machinery. For this reason, soft-drink franchises have

been a classic home for local investor/entrepreneurs, and

this spirit persists in the soft-drink industry today despite

the predominance of nonreturnable packaging.

Reﬁllables are often promoted for their environmental

beneﬁts. The concept of reﬁll/reuse may be laudable as it

supports a resource conservation ethic, but the actual

use of reﬁllables brings its own environmental problems:

water pollution from washing, air pollution from less

efﬁcient truck usage, and sanitation problems in both

shops and homes.

Proponents of nonreturnables also point to the success

of aluminum recycling. Opinions and emotions are very

strong in these areas, but an impartial examination of the

facts leads to no ﬁrm conclusion. In fact, much depends on

locality—that is, the nature of the water supply, the extent

of recycling possible, the degree of urbanization, and the

number of trips made by each reﬁllable. There is no easy

answer to this question, and neither reﬁllables nor non-

returnables offer a clear advantage on environmental

grounds.

Metal Cans

The 12-oz (355-mL) aluminum can with easy-open end is

the primary small carbonated-beverage package, despite

apparently higher container costs and retail price com-

pared to either glass or plastic (see Cans, aluminum).

Container weight and design have been the subject of

much development work, with the weight of a modern can

now down to around 15 g including the end. There is at

least one necked-in ridge at the seam to allow wall-to-wall

contact, which helps on the ﬁlling lines, makes ﬁrm six-

packs, and uses smaller, cheaper ends. Double- and triple-

necked cans are sold to get even smaller ends, and a new

spin-neck design has a conical top section which achieves

the same effect.

Nondetachable ends with a ring-like tab to pull, but

without the ring coming off to create litter and a safety

hazard, have replaced the pull tab almost completely in

the United States. Pull tabs are still common in China and

the Middle East. Nondetachable rings are mandatory in

certain states and are often used in other areas to avoid

manufacture and stocking of both types and to present an

environmentally supportive image. A reclosable end for a

ﬂat-topped can has been announced but is not yet on the

open market. Another reclosable metal can had a special

polypropylene bottle-sized closure. It was introduced in

1983, but later withdrawn.

Steel cans were much more common than aluminum

before the early 1960s, but their use has declined, espe-

cially for beer, and the old three-piece can with soldered

side seam and separate top and bottom ends is seldom

seen any more in this market (see Cans, steel). There are

some three-piece cans with welded side seams and even

more two-piece steel cans, drawn from steel much as

aluminum cans are made (see Cans, fabrication). These

may weigh as little as 37 g (with 5 1/2 g aluminum end).

Although the steel can is heavier, the material is cheaper

and the steel industry had expected to keep more of the

beverage market than it did with the two-piece cans. But

fabrication is more expensive, coatings are more critical

(to prevent rust), and aluminum did a ﬁne job of selling its

recyclability on a consumer level. (Steel can be recycled,

too, of course, and is easy to separate from solid waste

streams by magnets. However, the economics are not

favorable, and it does not always pay to get the cans

back into the new-material stream, which is what really

counts.) Formerly, the need for short runs of preprinted

cans for house brands and other low-volume products kept

three-piece steel in the running, but the growth of coop-

erative large-volume canning, improved machinery to coat

and print ﬁnished cans, and the disappearance of many

smaller brands have all contributed to steel’s decline.

Approximately 55% of drink cans made in Europe and

Asia are steel. It still is the main can material for foods,

juices, coffee, and many other products because the inter-

nal pressure of carbonated beverages stiffens the ﬁlled

container and makes steel’s great advantage in rigidity of

little importance. For the other products, this advantage

counts, and it makes aluminum more costly on an equal-

performance basis.

Metal Bottles

Coca-Cola has announced that it will bottle some of its

products in aluminum bottles in 2008. Coke joins Budwei-

ser and Pepsico in this new cutting edge form of packa-

ging. Aluminum bottles offer enhanced graphic capabiities

and the ability to keep the beverage colder. These bottles

cost three times more than the ones made of glass. Coke

will scale back on the graphics on its bottles. Moutain Dew

will present splashy designs created by contemporary

artisits. Budweiser is credited for being the ﬁrst company

to offer aluminum bottles in 2005. The aluminum bottles

keep the beer at 221F Glass would expode at this tem-

perature. Sales of beer in aluminum bottles rose 33% in

2007 (4).

BEER

VERSUS SOFT DRINKS

ackaging beer into bottles and cans is an immensely

expensive process. Packaging must be rapid, B2000 units

per minute, so that large volumes of beer can be broken

down to consumer units in a reasonably short time.

Second, oxygen must be rigorously excluded. The market

for large-size containers such as the 2-L PET bottle is very

CARBONATED BEVERAGE PACKAGING 221

small for beer, and it will remain so because beer quickly

goes stale once the container is opened and exposed to the

oxygen in the air. Thus, it must be consumed quickly and

cannot be reclosed and ﬁnished later, and the large-size

market is limited to parties where rapid consumption can

be expected. But even at these occasions, there is some

preference for cans and small bottles (what one does not

drink now, one can drink later). On the other end, there is

some competition from kegs and even a plastic sphere that

is set in a waterproof carton surrounded with ice. These

bulk packages are also used in bars.

Almost all soft-drink cans are actually 12 oz (355 mL) in

capacity, as are most beer cans; but some beer is sold in 8-,

10-, and 16-oz (237-, 296-, and 473-mL) sizes, and even a

32-oz (946-mL) size has been used. The nonreturnable

glass includes 12 oz (355 mL) and 32 oz (946-mL) for beer

and includes 16 oz (473 mL) and 28–32 oz (829–946 mL) for

soft drinks. Reﬁllables are 12 oz (355 mL) for beer and are

16 and 32 oz (473- and 946-mL) for soft drinks.

Another addition to both beer and soft-drink marketing

was the 12-pack of cans (and bottles), boxed in carry-home

secondary packaging and offering an economical compro-

mise between the six-pack and the 24-unit case (see

Carriers, beverage). Secondary packaging is an important

aspect of beverage packaging, with shrink-ﬁlm, plastic

can-holding rings, paperboard carriers, molded-plastic

bottle carriers, and corrugated and molded-plastic cases

all vying for their share and making their contribution to

the total system price of the primary package.

Plastic containers have entered the huge single-service

beer market. These bottles must be able to withstand

pasteurization conditions, with a good-enough oxygen

barrier to assure desired shelf-life under the most unfa-

vorable storage conditions. The shelf-life problem is made

worse by the presence of some oxygen in the beer as

brewed and in the headspace of the container. In effect,

any oxygen permeability at all puts pressure on the

brewing operation to tighten their oxygen-excluding pro-

cedures even more. For a high barrier one-trip bottle,

people are looking to multilayer or coated bottles to reduce

oxygen permeability.

Despite these problems, many companies are working

to develop a plastic beer container, because the sheer size

of this market gives these efforts a huge potential.

Already 10% of the beer consumed in Europe is in PET

bottles. In Korea, the Hite Brewery Company claims that

15% of all beer consumed in South Korea comes in 1.6-L

multilayer PET bottles with a shelf life of 26 weeks.

In the United States, ﬁrst steps have been taken by

Anheuser Busch and Coors in supplying their beers in

16-oz (453.3-g) multilayer bottles (2). Brewers in Denmark

introduced their beer in returnable poly(ethylenea-

naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylate) (PEN) copolymers in

1999, and a 1.25-L beer bottle was offered for sale in

Norway. In both countries, there is recycling and bottle

return is widely practiced. Plastic beer cans have also

been tested in Great Britain. Elsewhere in Europe, PVC

bottles have been used at soccer games and institutions

where breakage and cleanup are serious problems. In

Japan, 2-L and 3-L elaborate beer bottles are made from

PET, but they are virtually gift items and far too

expensive for any mass market. The Japanese also have

small (11.5-oz 340-mL) PET beer bottles on the market on

a limited scale.

Beer and soft drinks differ in carbonation content,

which affects pressure requirements and rate of CO

loss. Pressure is typically expressed in volumes or in g/L

of carbon dioxide. One volume equals approximately 2 g/L.

At room temperature, each volume produces about one

atmosphere (0.1 MPa) of internal pressure, but this

changes with temperature, so that a 4-volume beverage

such as a cola rises to 7 atmospheres (0.7 MPa) pressure at

1001F (381C) and to 10 atmospheres (1 MPa) at maximum

storage/pasteurization temperatures. The carbonation

levels of some common beverages are

Club soda and ginger ale

Common cola drinks

Beer

Citrus and fruit soft drinks

Volumes of CO

1.5

g/L

The beer industry differs from the soft-drink industry

in still another, very important way: There is no franchise

system. In the franchise system, a parent company li-

censes a large number of local bottlers, who run indepen-

dent businesses under the supervision of the parent and

buy their ﬂavor concentrate from that parent. In the beer

industry, on the other hand, there is great concentration,

with 90% of the beer made by the top 10 companies. Most

of these have some captive container capacity, so that

introducing a new container may mean idling of existing

capacity and not just a simple cost comparison. The

distribution systems also differ greatly. Soft drinks are

much more local, and even the big franchises and coop-

erative canning plants are still regional. Brewers, how-

ever, distribute over wider areas, and some ship to more

than half the country from a single location. Such dis-

tances make container compactness important, discou-

rage breakable glass and less-than-perfect closures, and

make reﬁlling (but not recycling) less economical.

DEPOSIT LAWS

No discussion of carbonated beverage packaging would be

complete without comment on the deposit laws which are

in effect in 11 states and 12 Canadian provinces as of 2008.

All beverage containers carry a deposit, typically 5b or

10b. Despite many complaints, the industry and the

public have learned to live with such laws, and they argue

over the relative merits and troubles that they bring. It is

fairly well agreed, however, that the cash value for

discarded containers does keep most of them off the high-

ways and gets more of them into the recycle streams.

Seven states have reported a reduction of beverage bottle

litter by 73–83%. The aluminum-can industry, which has a

widely publicized recycle system in operation in both

deposit and nondeposit states, now claims that more

than 53% of all aluminum beverage cans are recovered

222 CARBONATED BEVERAGE PACKAGING

in this way. There were some attempts to repeal the

deposit laws in a few states, all unsuccessful (5).

On a national scale, in November 2007 Senator E.

Markey of Massachusetts proposed a deposit law that

would require a refund for certain beverage containers.

This was proposed as an amendment to the Solid Waste

Disposal Act as the Bottle Recycling Climate Protection

Act. It is meant not only to reduce litter, but to protect

natural resources through recycling and reduction of solid

waste into landﬁlls. This amendment would apply to all of

the United States. States with high recycling rates would

be exempt.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. L. Griff, ‘‘Carbonated Beverage Packaging’’ in The Wiley

Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology, 1st edition, Wiley

& Sons, New York, 1986, pp. 519–522; 2nd edition, 1997,

pp. 158–161.

Cited Publications

1. ‘‘Fact Sheets,’’ American Beverage Association, Washington,

DC, http;//www.ameribev.org, accessed May 2008.

2. A. J. East, ‘‘Polyesters, Thermoplastics’’ in Kirk–Othmer En-

cyclopedia of Chemical Technology, John & Sons, Wiley, Hobo-

ken, NJ, 2006.

3. ‘‘North America Beer Markets,’’ O-I Global, www.o-i.com.

Accessed May 2008.

4. ‘‘Coke, Pepsi, A-B Attracted to Metal,’’ Brandweek, December

17, 2007.

5. Bottle Bill Resource Guide, Container Recycling Institute,

Glastonbury, CT, www.bottlebill.org. Accessed May 2008.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT, PACKAGING

BURTON R. L UNDQUIST

Armour Food Company,

Conagra (retired), Cave Creek,

Arizona

Career planning and development should be a lifetime

occupation. Without a plan or speciﬁc development activ-

ities, one’s career will tend to drift. There must be a

conscious effort to set and achieve goals. Planning and

implementation of your plan are probably the most im-

portant things you can do to maximize your capability and

realize the success you desire. It should be noted that

plans should be ﬂexible and should be changed and reﬁned

to ﬁt new goals.

One of the most important steps in career development

is a career book to document the plan and keep a record of

accomplishments. This book should be started as early in

the career as possible in order to maintain a complete

record of all important accomplishments. Most packaging

professionals who have been active for 10 or 20 years have

forgotten many of their most important accomplishments.

They have no records to show how or what was accom-

plished. Even recent graduates cannot remember all their

important activities. I personally believe that every packa-

ging student should have a career book to keep copies of

the results of important projects. There is also an oppor-

tunity for packaging directors to give each new employee a

career book. I personally required each of my packaging

engineers to maintain their book and keep it current. With

each annual review they had to present their up-to-date

book. There is great satisfaction for everyone in reviewing

all that has been accomplished during the year. It should

be noted that the career book is a great tool to present your

credentials when interviewing for a new job or even for a

new position with your current employer.

Your career will span many years and possibly many

different jobs and companies. Therefore, you can expect to

have more than one volume. Be sure to buy a high-quality

book because it must last a lifetime. Have your name

embossed in gold, and use plastic inserts to protect your

documents and specimens. Some of the most important

things to include in your book are your college degree;

certiﬁcates from continuing education; Institute of Packa-

ging Professionals Certiﬁcation; copies of patents; awards,

letters of recommendation, and congratulations; samples

of packages that you developed or were involved with;

ads and promotional material for new products with

new packages; copies of papers that you presented, pub-

lications, proposals, and prototypes of new packages;

photographs of projects, co-workers, employees, family

members, and so on. Your book is a personal record, so

the types of record put in the book may vary with different

individuals. The important part is to maintain as complete

a record as possible. In addition to the book, the docu-

ments may also be scanned and stored electronically in the

computer.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

The author has worked as a packaging professional for

over 40 years and has learned that it is impossible to make

any meaningful accomplishments by working alone. Real

accomplishments are made by people working together,

and working together builds relationships. Relationships

should be built with all the people with whom you

interact: your manager, employees, co-workers, suppliers,

members of professional organizations, universities and

educators, and packaging professionals in other compa-

nies, including your competitors. Use these relationships

to make things happen. The success of most projects is

dependent on using the right people. Use this resource to

explore new ideas, help solve problems, identify new

contacts and new relationships, organize new projects,

implement new systems, and bring projects to a successful

conclusion. Relationships are of tremendous value when

you network to make a job change. The same networking

can be used to identify candidates for a position you may

wish to ﬁll. It is the best way to identify speakers for

professional seminars, authors to contribute to publica-

tions, and candidates for professional organizations. Re-

lationships will bring richness to a career.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT, PACKAGING 223

Active participation in professional organizations is

one of the most important places to build relationships.

Professional organizations provide an important opportu-

nity for association with many people who share common

interests and goals. Membership is not enough. The max-

imum beneﬁt is obtained only with active participation.

This may be at the national level or at the local chapter

level. The Institute of Packaging Professionals (IOPP) is

the primary organization for packaging professionals.

There are 41 Chapters across the country and 10 Techni-

cal Committees. The Packaging Digest lists 138 packa-

ging-related trade and professional organizations. This

list includes The Institute of Food Technologists, which

has a packaging committee. There are 49 international

associations for professionals outside the United States.

All of these professional organizations provide the packa-

ging professional to interact and build relationships with

other professionals and establish lifelong friendships.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

This is probably the most important part of career devel-

opment. It is essential for continued growth and expan-

sion of your knowledge base and overall capability. We all

start with a base to build on, and how we build and expand

on that base determines the extent of growth of our overall

capability. Recognizing that packaging technology utilizes

many different disciplines, there are many different re-

sources we can use to expand our knowledge and also to

learn how to develop new disciplines. Many universities

provide continuing education. These may be in the form of

night school courses or short courses. Other sources are

seminars at Packaging Expositions, Institute of Food

Technology and other professional meetings, regularly

scheduled seminars by the Institute of Packaging Profes-

sionals and other professional organizations, and semi-

nars by suppliers. The professional journals are a source of

information on current developments.

Some other types of training that will support career

development are public speaking, assertive training, re-

port writing, writing patent disclosures, and learning

management skills. An important skill to consider is to

learn a second language. Next to English, Spanish is the

most commonly used language in the United States.

NAFTA will expand the need for people who can speak

Spanish.

A development area few professionals have recognized

is the need to learn to use the right side of the brain. Most

of us primarily use the dominant left side of the brain. Dr.

Betty Edwards, in her book Drawing on the Right Side of

the Brain, states ‘‘The left side of the brain analyzes,

abstracts, counts, marks time, plans step-by-step proce-

dures, verbalizes, and makes rational statements based on

logic. It is said to be more closely linked to thinking,

reasoning, and the higher mental functions.’’ It is recog-

nized that most of our training and education has been

directed at the dominant left side. The right side is the

creative side. ‘‘It uses imagination, the dreamer, the

artiﬁcer, the artist. Using the right side, we dream and

create new combinations of ideas.’’ Most of the training on

the use of the right side of the brain appears to be directed

at learning to draw. This does provide a means for self-

expression. It is said that learning to use the right side of

the brain will release you from stereotypic expression.

This release in turn will open the way for you to express

your individuality in all aspects of your career. Seek out

art training that teaches how to draw using the right side

of your brain. If you are lucky, you may ﬁnd courses in

imagination, visualization, perceptual or spatial skills, or

inventiveness. The right and left sides of the brain do

communicate. You can develop your capability to the

maximum when both sides of your brain are working

together. There are techniques, such as brainstorming

and mindmapping, to stimulate creative thinking and

generate ideas, Mind mapping software is also available

commercially to create diagrams of relationships between

ideas or other pieces of information.

SHARING KNOWLEDGE

Sharing knowledge with others is very important to career

development. It provides a means for dialog with your

peers about what you have learned, new research and

development, unique ideas and patent disclosures, and

areas you want to explore. Sharing leads to better orga-

nization and understanding of ideas. Sharing is also an

important part of learning. If we don’t share with others,

we do nothing to expand the information base. Take every

opportunity to share through publications and presenta-

tions at professional meetings, by participating in IOPP

and other groups such as the American Society of Testing

and Methods (ASTM) and Technical Association of Pulp

and Paper. You can be one of the continuing education

resources for new professionals starting their career.

This sharing will provide another opportunity to build

relationships.

MANAGER’S RESPONSIBILITY

Managers and supervisors have a special responsibility to

assist their staff in developing their career to the max-

imum of their capability. They need to be involved with

career books, helping their staffs build professional rela-

tionships, and providing opportunities for continuing edu-

cation and sharing. They should support programs that

will help all aspects of career development. In many cases

the supervisor is the key to the entire career development

process.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

General References

B. Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Putnam

Publishing Group, New York, 1989.

T. Buzan, The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps, HarperCollins

Publishers, New York, 2006.

A. F. Osborn, Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of

Creative Problem Solving, 3rd edition, Charles Scribner’s

Sons, New York, 1963.

224 CAREER DEVELOPMENT, PACKAGING

D. MacCrimmon MacKay, Behind the Eye, Basil Blackwell, Cam-

bridge, MA, 1991.

Institute of Packaging Professionals, 481 Carlisle, Herndon, VA

22070.

Institute of Food Technology, 221 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL

60601.

American Society of Testing and Methods, 1916 Race Street,

Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Technical Association of Pulp and Paper, P.O. 105113, Atlanta, GA

30348.

CARRIERS, BEVERAGE

OCTAVIO ORTA

Coated Board Systems Group,

Riverwood International

Corporation,

Atlanta, Georgia

Updated by Staff

INTRODUCTION

Beverage carriers have traditionally been designed to

group primary beverage containers into retail units of

sale, as well as to protect the primary containers and

merchandise or market the liquid contained.

The grouping function is important, because it must

securely provide easy portability of a plurality of single

cans, bottles, cups, tubs, or paperboard containers of

beverages in units of sale that meet the needs of consu-

mers. Typically, multiples of 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 are com-

monly found; but larger multiples of 15, 18, 20, 24, 30, and

even 36 have grown in popularity.

The protection function has developed to mean protection

to the primary container against breakage, leakage, denting

or disﬁgurement; protection to the beverage as in the case of

providing a barrier against ultraviolet-ray degradation of

beer; and protection to the consumer against personal injury

from accidents while carrying or using the package.

The merchandising or marketing function has also

evolved because of the development of brand proliferation

and ﬂavor segmentation in all beverages. The introduction

of ‘‘new-age beverages,’’ teas, microbrewed beers, and so

on, established a need for the secondary package to

establish brand identity, have on the shelf point-of-pur-

chase appeal, establish differentiation among brands and

ﬂavors, and evoke media advertising.

The beverage carrier also provides a means of display-

ing retail unit Universal Product Codes (UPCs) reading

through modern laser scan checkout machines while

masking UPCs from the individual primary containers.

As beverages have been formulated to appeal to differ-

ent tastes, primary containers have changed, and so have

beverage carriers. The following have resulted in an

evolution of the various types of carriers used as beverage

secondary packages: metal cans with thinner wall

thicknesses; glass bottles with thinner wall thicknesses;

poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and other plastic bot-

tles in various sizes and shapes; plastic tubs, cups, and

containers of various conﬁgurations; and paperboard

‘‘boxes’’ of various sizes and shapes.

CAN MULTIPACKS

Several different raw materials are used in the multiple

packaging of cans. Since over 55% of beverages in the

United States are sold in cans, these various multipacks

are the most commonly purchased today.

Plastic Ring Carriers

The Hi-Cone (Illinois Tool Works) plastic ring carrier is

still widely used to package beverage and food cans into

4 s, 6 s, 8 s, and other multiples. This carrier consists of a

series of plastic rings that carry cans by the rim and grips

them throughout the distribution and retail cycles. The

rings are equipped with cutout ‘‘ﬁnger holes’’ for gripping

and have tearout strips in order to access the cans

themselves. These rings are applied by a machine furn-

ished by Illinois Tool Works and applied in line at the

canning line between the ﬁller and the palletizers (see

Figure 1).

Paperboard Carriers

Paperboard carriers for cans are used in two different

varieties, the wraps and the fully enclosed sleeves. In the

United States, fully enclosed sleeves are used for the

majority of the can multipacks. Sold in 12, 15, 18, 24, 30,

and even 36 multipacks, the popularity of these has grown

signiﬁcantly. Originally sold in 3 4upto46 can

conﬁgurations, these carriers have recently developed to

be double layered stacks of cans with an interstitial pad

between the cans. Thus, multiples of 2 3 4, 2 3 5,

and 2 3 6 have been growing as a percent of the total

retailed cans (see Figure 2).

Typically, these fully enclosed sleeve packs are formed

from a preglued sleeve of paperboard that is then removed

from a magazine in a packaging machine, and collated

single or double layers of cans are packed inside these

sleeves in a parallel and continuous motion at speeds of

Figure 1. Plastic ring carriers.

CARRIERS, BEVERAGE 225

r3000 cans per minute. The ends of the sleeves are then

folded and glued or locked in place (see Figure 3).

While the fully enclosed sleeves are the most popular

form of secondary packaging for beverage cans in the

United States, can wraps continue to be popular in

Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world. Paperboard

can wraps are printed and die-cut blanks of paperboard,

which are removed from a magazine in a packaging

machine, brought over the cans in line and in continuous

motion; then the side wing panels are folded down, the

bottom ﬂaps are folded in, and the cartons are locked or

glued in line (see Figure 4)(1).

Both the fully enclosed sleeves and the can wraps

are formed principally from paperboard formulated with

70–80% virgin ﬁber and 20–30% recycled ﬁber and con-

taining high resistance against wet tear.

The most common machinery used for forming fully

enclosed sleeves is supplied by Riverwood International,

The Mead Westvaco Corporation, and R. A. Jones Com-

pany, while the majority of the wet-strength carrierboard

used in manufacturing these packages is supplied by

Riverwood International and/or The Mead Westvaco

Corporation.

Other forms of can multipackaging are (a) paperboard

‘‘clips,’’ which grip the rims of cans, holding them by this

rim through distribution and retail, and (b) shrink ﬁlm,

utilizing thermoplastic ﬁlms that shrink around the cans

with the application of heat. Both of these forms of can

multipackaging have been tried in applications in the

United States, but have not been able to sustain measur-

able shares of the total can packaging market segment

(see Figure 5).

BOTTLE MULTIPLE PACKAGING

Basket-style carriers are a popular form of multipacka-

ging nonreturnable or one-way glass bottles (and for some

returnables), especially in smaller multiples such as 4, 6,

or 8 packs, and particularly in premium brands. Basket-

style carriers have also been chosen by the Coca-Cola

Company to package their proprietary PET contour-

shaped bottle with special die-cut designs registered to

make their design proprietary to the Coca Cola Company.

Thus, the popularity of basket-style carriers continues

regardless of whether they are used to package returnable

or nonreturnable glass bottles or to package plastic bottles

(see Figure 6).

Basket-style carriers traditionally are die-cut and preg-

lued from virgin or recycled paperboard, and all provide

cells for each bottle, sides and ends that are attractively

printed for merchandising and brand identiﬁcation, and a

central handle panel that rises above the necks of the

bottles and provides for convenient and easy portability.

Riverwood International, Mead Westvaco Packaging, In-

ternational Paper, and Zumbiel are the primary suppliers

of these carriers.

Outside the United States, nonreturnable bottles are

more commonly multipacked in paperboard wraparound

carriers, which, similar to can wraps, are formed, wrapped,

Figure 2. Paperboard carriers.

Figure 3. Fully enclosed sleeve packs.

226 CARRIERS, BEVERAGE

and glued or locked in place by in-line wrap machines.

These wraps, most commonly used to form 4-, 6-, and

8-packs, are applied by in-line machines supplied by

various companies such as Riverwood International, The

Mead Corporation, and Certipak, a division of Kliklok.

Plastic bottles are also multipacked in plastic rings

supplied by Illinois Tool Works. In the case of bottles, the

rings ﬁt snugly around the middle portion of the bottles

and provide a handle protruding from one side in order to

carry the bottles. These rings commonly form 6 or 8 packs

of bottles.

Other forms of multipackaging nonreturnable bottles

appear in the form of clips that grip the bottles by the neck

or under the crowns and provide a handle with which to

carry the bottles (see Figure 7).

These clips are commonly used in countries of the

European Union (EU), where the concern for environmental

wastes has driven retailers and consumers alike to seek

minimal packaging while offering portability and some

merchandising possibilities. Clips can be formed from virgin

paperboard and are also available in plastic.

Finally, for larger multiples of glass bottles, the fully

enclosed paperboard sleeve is still the most widely utilized

multipack, particularly in the brewing industry. In

this package, the preglued sleeve, die-cut from wet-

tear-strength board, is applied in-line and in a continuous

motion by a packaging machine in an operation similar

to the can fully enclosed package machines previously

described. Operating at speeds of up to 1800 bottles per

minute, these machines can operate with or without

inserts that provide separations between the bottles.

These fully enclosed packs are commonly used for

premium brand product and serve as an ultraviolet-ray

Figure 5. Paperboard clips.

Figure 6. Bottle basket.

Figure 7. Bottle grips.

Figure 4. Can wrap.

CARRIERS, BEVERAGE 227