A need for liquid containers requiring less energy to construct than glass developed during past energy crises. Polyester plastic was selected to produce such containers because of its performance characteristics: leaching of gases through the container is minimal, and the toughness of polyester gives bottles formed from it superior protection against breakage. A whole new industry subsequently developed using polyester resin in place of glass for soft drink bottles and other containers. This industry has become substantial, with the market for polyester resins in 1987 estimated at nearly two billion pounds.
While the use of polyester bottles reduced energy requirements during manufacturing, problems with the disposal of empty bottles have developed. Disposal of these plastic containers has resulted in landfills having numerous small pockets of trapped air formed by the polyester bottles. This is brought about by the inherent ability of polyester bottles to return to their original form even after being compacted; the bottles are extremely difficult to crush or break. In an effort to reduce this problem, numerous states--including much of New England--have enacted deposit laws. Most of the remaining states are considering similar laws.
While deposit laws successfully reduce the number of plastic containers going into landfills, problems now confront bottlers who are required to take the used bottles back. Since federal law prohibits reusing polyester bottles as beverage containers, bottlers have been forced to find other means of disposing of these containers--hence the inception of a new industry for reclaiming bottles, processing them, and turning the reprocessed resin into a useful product. Many companies have been formed which wash and grind bottles to produce a product known as flake (named for its snowflake appearance).
Problems encountered in this reclamation process are caused by the need to separate the base cap (high density polyethylene), the paper and glue of the label, and the metal cap from the polyester bottle. Since current marketing practices require the production of both a green colored bottle for liquids containing sunlight sensitive ingredients and a clear bottle for other liquids, it has also become necessary to separate bottles by color during reclamation. In addition, processors are faced with limited marketing areas for the polyester resin they reclaim.
This final problem remains acute today. With only two accepted areas in which to market the reclaimed resin--fiber manufacturing and strapping--the market soon became glutted with resin, and a subsequent reduction in prices ensued. Most new companies formed solely for reclamation purposes went out of the market. The only companies which realized profits were those firms which used their reclaimed resin in products they themselves could market. The nature of the market being what it is, most firms decided to sit back and wait until new end use markets were developed.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recyclable bottle which need only be produced in a single color, so that the subsequent reclamation of the bottle is simplified. An additional object of the invention is to provide a recyclable bottle which requires neither the removal of a polyethylene base cap nor the removal of paper and glue therefrom. A still further important object of this invention is to provide a recyclable bottle which serves to create an inherent market for a portion of the reclaimed polyester resin.