Draft:How the PET bottle became ubiquitous

PET in 3D

The commercialization of the Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle 50 years ago marks a significant milestone in the packaging industry, revolutionizing the way carbonated beverages are stored and consumed worldwide. The PET bottle created from Polyethylene Terephthalate was invented by Nathaniel C. Wyeth. Fifty years ago it was commercialized and now is ubiquitously exclusively used for carbonated drinks as can be seen in the beverage aisle of a grocery store. Among other things, they are noted for their distinctive patended base. that was designed for the bottle to be universally accepted by beverage manufactures and consumers.

History

The first plastic soft drink bottles were made with Monsanto Acrylonitrile,(Lopac-Barex) specifically, copolymer, polyacrylonitrile-styrene, commonly referred to as resins.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi each wanted to be the first to sell their carbonated beverage in large plastic bottles to increase home consumption of soft drinks. In 1975 the Coca-Cola commercialized its first plastic soda bottle, the Monsanto Chemical Company's Lopac bottle for which Monsanto set-up several factories.

Monsanto's Cycle-Safe bottle was called "Easy-Goer" by Coca-Cola. Continental Can Company was ready to commercialize its Petalite bottle made from Acrylonitrile.

In early 1977 when FDA announced its decision on November 9, 1977 to ban the resin for food application. It took FDA seven years (1984) to re-approve bottles, Lopac resin, for food application negating the prior findings as being in-accurate. Unfortunately, much damage was done to plastic bottles and their manufacturers including, Monsanto, Continental Can, Borg Warner, etc.

Meanwhile, Pepsi had been experimenting with bottles made of another resin, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), a material developed by DuPont Company, which had met FDA approval for food applications.

At this time the 2-liter glass bottle was becoming a runaway success, except it was heavy and there were safety concerns. Because of a possible explosion issue, there was urgency to introduce a plastic for 2-liter bottles.

Today PET resin is the material of choice, and a multi-billion-dollar industry remains today world-wide.

The history of Continental is intertwined with the history of acrylonitrile and PET rigid packaging. Companies in the US which led this PET R&D effort included Continental Can Co. (CCC) along with several other companies, including machinery manufacturers. Hoover Universal (next Johnson Controls, Inc., Schmalbach Lubeca, and now AMCOR.), Sewell Plastics (now Constar), and Amoco Chemicals (now Silgan), all established successful commercial businesses, none of these manufacturing companies attempted to develop the technology bases to the extent that both CCC did.

PET manufacturing

In the manufacturing process, a preform mold is first developed. By blowing hot air, the preform expands into a predetermined bottle, the PET bottle.

The first preform mold was built by Broadway Mold in Ohio. The introduction of the first commercialized PET 2-Liter bottles occurred in 1976 with Coke and Pepsi.

The CCC bottle was a one piecewhereas all the others had 2-piece bottles (round PET base supported by a PE base cup)

There was little barrier to entry, and very soon oversupply and price drops were seen. As prices fell and as supplies increased, the technical leaders, including CCC opted out of soft drink bottles and concentrated on specialty food and other PET packaging.

Also, during the period from 1980-1985, the Coca-Cola bottlers, both in the Southwest(USA) and in the Southeast (USA) became interested in manufacturing their own PET bottles rather than purchasing them. These regional bottlers established four separate regional bottle making cooperatives, including Western Container Corp. (WCC) in the Southwest, Southeastern Container, Inc. (SEC) in the Southeast, Apple Container Corp. (ACC) in the Northeast and Florpak in Florida. John Dunagan who himself was a Coca-Cola bottler from Monahans, Texas, led the change to self-manufacture.

At the same time, the PET fiber, film, and engineered products applications have also continued to enjoy steady growth. Today, the PET resin, machine and product manufacturing industries have become a substantial factor in world commerce. PET has continued to replace other packaging materials as the material of choice for water bottles, tennis ball cans, hot filled ketchup, hot filled beverages such as juices), and has made entries in to packaging for wine, beer, baby food, and a host of other traditional metal and glass packages.

PET resin consumption is over 50 billion USD and soft drink bottles are over one trillion units.

While Pet is recyclable, it represents a huge environmental problem that is being addressed. See PET bottle recycling.