Friendly Plastic Pop Can Nearly Ready for Market

drfishy writes "BevNET has the story of Toledo, OH based Owens-Illinois and their new pop can. The can is made of a "fancy" new clear plastic with a traditional aluminum top and should be in stores sometime this year. Consumers are supposed to like it because of the "cool" factor, manufacturers will like it because they can use the same equipment to fill and package them, beverage companies like it because consumers and manufacturers will, and advertising agencies love it because they can get rich making all new commercials to convince people it really is cool. Seriously though, I like the idea, enough to submit a story about it anyway..."

Comments

Pop can?

[Evro]

What the hell is pop? I think you mean soda, or maybe coke, but certainly not pop.

Obligatory link: http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~almccon/pop_soda/

but!

[DonFinch]

how do you crush it on your forhead? A plasticy plunk is nowhere near as manishly satifying as the savory crash and pang of sweet, metallic destruction...

How recyclable is it?

[DaveOnNet]

How do the recycling folks like it? What's the number in the little triangle? I suppose they'll have to separate the top from the body to recycle it at all. Gotta love that!

Re:How recyclable is it?

[Strange Ranger]

AFAIK, "Multi-layer injection molded" plastic is not really recyclable at all. Maybe they can melt it down and use it for plastic packing bubbles or something where the properties of the plastic don't matter much. But when you take a piece of "Multi-layer injection molded" plastic and melt it down the layers all melt together like a soup, their different properties mingling together into a plastic "grunge" that isn't usable for much. There is no way to seperate the layers and end up with anything like what you started with, i.e, make another can out of them.

That is, this product is FAR less recyclable than aluminum cans.

As far as I know that is, I'm no expert.

More garbage, less recycling

[MrEfficient]

Right now aluminum cans are recycled by many people because they bring a decent price and there are many places they can be sold. But plastic? As far as I know, there's no money to be made by an individual in recycling plastic and if there is, I doubt it's as much as aluminum.

"It doesn't taste the same"

[tswinzig]

Before the soda connoisseurs get on here and try to tell us they're not gonna like these because the soda from the metal cans tastes better than the soda from the plastic bottles, keep in mind the aluminum cans' interiors are coated with some sort of plastic material.

Otherwise the carbonic acid would react with the aluminum, and leave you with a nasty taste (I believe due to Aluminum Oxide? but its been a while since high school Chemistry).

Re:"It doesn't taste the same"

[Christopher Thomas]

Otherwise the carbonic acid would react with the aluminum, and leave you with a nasty taste (I believe due to Aluminum Oxide? but its been a while since high school Chemistry).

Aluminum oxide is not soluble and almost certainly doesn't have any taste (it's even more stable than silica).

What you get after dissolving aluminum with an acid is hydrogen and an aluminum-based salt. This would be aluminum carbonate for carbonic acid, and aluminum phosphate for the phosphoric acid many drinks use as a flavouring agent.

I left a case of coke unused for about 6 months once. Tasted very odd after the lining broke down.

Re:How is this different from...

[Cy Guy]

Yeah the technology is definately not new, this has been the standard format for tennis ball cans for well over a decade. The question is market acceptance and given the recycling concerns, I can't see that being too great.

You can already get beer in plastic bottles in the US but most people think the beer will not taste as good (for the Miller, Lite, and MGD brands that use the technology, taste isn't really a concern anyway - but somehow these consumers consider themselves beer conoisseurs if you change the bottling material). So given the limited acceptance of plastic bottles I've only seen them at sporting events where it is prefereable not to arm potentially drunken disgruntled fans with glass missiles just in case the home team loses.