The market for beer bottled in PET may not be moving as fast as the mineral water market. Nevertheless, 9% of the beer sold in Europe in 2004 was filled in PET bottles – usually coloured brown to resemble the traditional glass. In absolute terms, this was 45m hectolitres out of a total of 500m bottled. Some 6 bn PET bottles and a marginal 40m PEN bottles were filled with beer last year, reports Schönwald Consulting (Besigheim / Germany; www.schoenwald-consulting.com) in its new multi-client study “PET Bottles and Beer – The European Market 2003/2004 to 2008”.

Acceptance differs considerably from one country to another, says the study. In Russia, 30% of beer is already being sold in PET, accounting for half the European volume. In many countries – for example, Portugal – the search for a plastic bottle will prove fruitless. In Germany, less than 5% of beer is currently filled into PET bottles. But most of the news for the plastics industry is good. The use of PET bottles for beer is growing at an average rate of 12% a year in Europe, faster than the growth of all other materials. In 2008, estimates Schönwald, around 70m hectolitres of beer from these lightweight unbreakable bottles will quench consumers´ thirst and considerably expand PET´s share of the market.

Schönwald´s 121-page study looks at the present situation and future developments for PET beer bottles in all European countries, broken down by production, consumption and volume of packaging materials used. Breweries that use PET/PEN bottles are listed with their key data. There is also a fairly long chapter with an overview of the current state- of-the-art and a comparison with other materials.

Book Service: “PET Bottles and Beer – The European Market 2003/2004 to 2008“, Schönwald Consulting 2005, 121 pages, printed version 3,000 EUR + VAT: PIE-No. B 47018 • PDF version 3,500 EUR + VAT: PIE-No. B 47019.