In the United States, the fraction of metal cans has remained fairly constant at around half of all beer containers over the past two decades. Glass bottles have undergone a large 15% increase and now constitute 38.2% of beer containers, while draught beer has been on a slow decline. Refillable beer bottles made up 12% of the mix in 1981, but were entirely phased out by 2007. Plastic beer containers were introduced in 2005, but because plastic is more permeable to oxidation, only 0.3% of beer is packaged in PET.
Canada's beer industry still utilizes refillable glass bottles. “Approximately 62% of beer containers sold in Ontario are refillable bottles. Each Ontario refillable beer bottle is used 12-15 times, representing a 93% savings of the pollution related to virgin material extraction.” On top of that, "97 per cent of non-refillable beer bottles [are] recovered". The Beer Store Stewardship Report 2010
The average American drained the contents of 721 bottles and cans in 2006—a startling 2 per person per day--compared to about 645 in 2000. Historic figures CRI has tracked show per capita consumption of 319 in 1980, and an estimated 254 in 1972.
Sales of traditional containers have grown dramatically: from 182 billion units sold in 2000 to 215 billion sold in 2006
Traditional beverage containers are defined as refillable and one-way glass bottles, PET and HDPE plastic bottles (excluding milk jugs), steel (bi-metal) cans, and aluminum cans.
2000 | 2002 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beverage Type | billion units | market share | billion units | market share | billion units | market share | billion units | market share |
Carbonated |
||||||||
Carbonated Soft drinks | 90.4 | 48% | 88.6 | 46% | 88.6 | 41% | 88 | 39% |
Beer | 59.5 | 31% | 59.7 | 31% | 61.7 | 29% | 63.3 | 28% |
Domestic Sparkling water | 1.2 | 1% | 1.6 | 1% | 1.4 | 1% | 1.5 | 1% |
Subtotal carbonated | 151.2 | 80% | 149.9 | 78% | 151.7 | 71% | 152.8 | 68% |
Noncarbonated, non-alcoholic |
||||||||
Domestic noncarbonated water | 11.7 | 6% | 16.8 | 9% | 29.8 | 14% | 35.8 | 16% |
Sports drinks | 2.5 | 1% | 3.6 | 2% | 4.8 | 2% | 5.5 | 2% |
Fruit beverages | 15.5 | 8% | 16.3 | 8% | 16.9 | 8% | 16.4 | 7% |
Ready-to-drink tea | 4.8 | 3% | 3.7 | 2% | 4.7 | 2% | 6.1 | 3% |
Energy drinks | 0.2 | 0% | 0.5 | 0% | 1.8 | 1% | 2.8 | 1% |
Subtotal noncarbonated nonalcoholic | 34.7 | 18% | 40.9 | 21% | 58 | 27% | 66.6 | 29% |
Noncarbonated alcoholic |
||||||||
Domestic Table wine | 2.2 | 1% | 1.9 | 1% | 2.6 | 1% | 2.6 | 1% |
spirits (liquor) | 1.9 | 1% | 2 | 1% | 2.2 | 1% | 2.2 | 1% |
Subtotal Noncarbonated alcoholic | 4.1 | 2% | 3.9 | 2% | 4.8 | 2% | 4.8 | 2% |
Subtotal noncarbonated | 38.8 | 20% | 44.80 | 23% | 62.80 | 29% | 71.40 | 31% |
total | 190 | 100% | 194.7 | 101% | 214.5 | 100% | 224.2 | 99% |
Among the 50 United States, the 11 states with bottle bills were responsible for nearly 50% of the total beverage containers recycled in 2006.
State | Number of containers recycled (billions) |
---|---|
California | 13893 |
Connecticut | 1368 |
Delaware | 143 |
Hawaii | 558 |
Iowa | 1809 |
Maine | 804 |
Massachusetts | 2539 |
Michigan | 5580 |
New York | 7769 |
Oregon | 1487 |
Vermont | 334 |
Other States | 38018 |
Total | 36284 |
New beverage container deposit program bills. Expansion and repeal proposals. Sales, redemption rate and waste trends. Refillable bottle infrastructure. Extended producer responsibility.
CRI covers them all – and more – as the leading source of original research, objective analysis and responsible advocacy on the recycling of beverage containers.
Get the latest insights on our Publications and Letters and Briefings pages. Also visit our California Crisis page for details on the extensive shortcomings of the state’s beverage container deposit program – and ways to help fix them.
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Find a wealth of data on metrics such as recycling rates, waste and sales for all beverage container types on CRI’s Data Archive page. Charts and graphs present key information in a user-friendly way.