There has been much discussion in the past several months around bottled beverages and the impact they have on the environment.  This has ranged from initiatives to increase bottle recycling and criticism of bottled water to positive changes, such as the Nestle Waters Eco-Shape bottle.  Coca-Cola released its Sustainability Review last week, taking bold steps to systematically innovate its processes and decrease its environmental impact.  But there is more to be done.

Many consumers don't know about the immense amount of chemicals, energy, and raw materials that go into providing us that bottled beverage.  Some filling processes involve boiling the liquid and pouring it into the bottle, with the heat serving as a sterilizer.  The effect of this, though, are immense amounts of energy, thicker plastic bottles, and (sadly) limited flavor choices.  Other bottles are sterilized with chemicals, such as vaporized hydrogen peroxide or paracetic acid.

Beyond the use of chemicals, the dirty (no pun intended) secret behind this method is the amount of water needed to rinse the chemical sterilants off of the bottle prior to the bottle being filled with your beverage.  And the rinse water used can 3-6 times the amount of liquid you end up purchasing.

Low energy electron beams can sterilize the inside of the bottle prior to filling by applying energy directly to the inside surface of the bottle.  This enables bottle fillers to elimate the use of chemical sterilants and, in turn, eliminate the use of rinse water.

Please join us for a free seminar on the advantages of electron beam sterilization for aseptic and extended shelf life beverage packaging on November 11 at the upcoming Pack Expo show in Chicago.  Register here.