Recyclers See Problems With New Beer Bottle

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter asked her colleagues and area residents Thursday to protest plastic beer bottles being test-marketed in Los Angeles, charging they are not recyclable.

In November, Miller Brewing Co. became the first major brewery in the country to sell beer in plastic bottles with its Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite and Icehouse products. Although the bottle is mostly made from the same kind of plastic used in soda bottles, its color and design could create problems for recycling plants, said Rick Best, policy director for Californians Against Waste and chairman of GrassRoots Recycling Network.

“We don’t want these bottles, and you shouldn’t either,” Galanter told a room full of reporters at City Hall.

To ease market acceptance, Miller uses an aluminum cap and metalized labels, similar to those used on their glass bottles. A barrier layer allows a four-month shelf life by ensuring little oxygen enters the bottle. The Miller Lite and Icehouse bottles are amber-tinted.

Best said all those features make the bottles incompatible with current recycling systems. Sorting the new Miller beer bottles from other plastic containers will cost taxpayers and recyclers more money, he added.

“People are going to try to recycle these bottles, and recyclers won’t know what to do with them, so they’ll be tossed out,” Best said.

Officials for Miller Brewing Co. admit to problems with the experimental bottle, but say they are working out the kinks. Alternatives to the aluminum caps are being sought, but the plastic bottle is recyclable, said Scott Bussen, a company spokesman.

The bottle’s manufacturer, Continental PET, will take the amber-colored containers back from recyclers for now, Bussen said.

“I think anyone who has worked with us on the recycling front knows we have a long record of being responsible,” Bussen said. “We just don’t understand why Los Angeles chose to say this about us rather than working with us to develop the best options possible.”