Scientists Discover a Way To Get Every Last Drop of Ketchup Out of the Bottle (bbc.com)

Slashdot reader schwit1 quotes a report from BBC: Scientists in Boston have found a way to get every last drop of ketchup out of the bottle. They have developed a coating that makes bottle interiors super slippery. The coating can also be used to make it easier to squeeze out the contents of other containers, such as those holding toothpaste, cosmetics and even glue. The researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believe that their innovation could dramatically reduce waste. In its manufacture, the container must first be coated on the inside with a rough surface. A very thin layer is then placed over this. And, finally, a liquid is added that fills in any troughs to form a very slippery surface -- like an oily floor. The ketchup hovers on top and just glides out of the bottle. According to Prof Kripa Varanasi, who developed the slippery surface, the technology is completely safe. "The cool thing about it is that because the coating is a composite of solid and liquid, it can be tailored to the product. So for food, we make the coating out of food-based materials and so you can actually eat it."

schwit1 adds: "Pretty slick."

Comments

Re:But..

[Rothron the Wise]

I'd pay a little more for a ketchup that slides out that easily, not for the positive environmental
effects or the fact that recycling becomes a lot cleaner, those are bonuses; I'd buy them for the aesthetics alone.

Interesting, but...

[loranger]

...that will never work. That would cost more to manufacture, and you would sell less bottles as you would squeeze more out of each. I cannot see how the manufacturers would be interested in that.

Re:Reduce tomato sauce wastage

[Anonymous Coward]

It can be. If the energy added is less than the energy wasted, then it is good, otherwise it is not.

Refillable packaging

[Dusthead Jr.]

Rather than working on ways to continue the level of waste we produce, why not make more products refillable? Toothpaste, lotion, ointments, whatever. Instead of putting them in the same old plastic squeeze tubes put them in serine-like tubes than can be opened, cleaned out and refilled. The was a high end toothpaste called Rembrandt that came in an upright bottle that when you push down on it the paste would dispense from the top. The bottle was hard plastic that was made of two parts. It wasn't refillable but it didn't seem like a stretch to make it so. I can see taking the empty container back to the store to be refilled for less then the full price. Reduce and save money.

Re:Refillable packaging

[drinkypoo]

Rather than working on ways to continue the level of waste we produce, why not make more products refillable?

Refillable packaging is a liability nightmare, so that is not going to happen. I'd just like to see non-recyclable plastic things outlawed, period. No making anything out of plastic and selling it into a market where it cannot be recycled. Glass was good because sand is an endlessly renewable resource. You can literally just take the glass out into the ocean and dump it. If you avoid toxic additives in the glass (and there are some, and there are alternatives) then there is basically zero environmental impact. The glass, in fact, turns back into sand over time. Recycling glass is a boondoggle — you really don't save any energy vs. making virgin glass. Meanwhile, all plastic bottles leach toxics into their contents.

Won't be bought by any manufacturer

[OlivierB]

Manufacturers make money by selling stuff, repeatedly. The fact that you buy a bottle of ketchup and that you cannot use every last drop of it is your problem, not the manufacturers. In fact, if you could use more of what you bought then you would buy less of it and that means in economic terms that (a) consumer gets more product, (b) manufacturer gets less revenue *and* more costs as they now need to coat the inside of the bottle. It may have its uses, but absolutely not in the FMCG (Faast Moving Consumer Goods) segment