Beverage Containers
Justin Connell
Christopher Liman
Andrew Fang
Richard Zou
"
Introduction
  The global beverages industry generated a total of $1.125
trillion in 2007[1]
  Beverage containers represent ~5% of the waste stream, but
take up a disproportionate amount of space in landfills, a
significant stress on the waste management system[2]
  For example, PET bottles take up approximately 9.8 cubic
yards per ton, compared to 2.75 cubic yards for “average”
landfill materials[2]
[1] www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/835602/
drinks_companies_report_global_top_10.pdf
[2] www.tennessee.gov/environment/swm/pdf/TFBottleBill2.pdf
Containers for Comparison
  Bottle of Red Wine from France
  Aluminum Bottle of Venom Black Mamba Energy Drink
from New York
  PET Bottle of FIJI Water from Fiji
  Steel Can of Asahi Beer from Japan
  Cardboard Carton of Milk from Wisconsin
(All quantities are per liter of liquid contained)
Glass Bottle
  750mL standard bottle of red wine from France
  Assume no refrigeration required for red wine
  ~8000km total trip by sea freight and truck
Energy (kJ/L)
20000.0
CO2 Emitted (g/L)
1200.0
1000.0
15000.0
800.0
10000.0
600.0
400.0
5000.0
200.0
0.0
0.0
-200.0
-5000.0
-400.0
Aluminum Bottle
  Venom Black Mamba Energy Drink from New York
(~1200km by truck from New York to Chicago)
  Assumed energy drink ≈ soft drink, used energy to
produce soft drink
  Assume no refrigeration
Energy (kJ/L)
10000
8000
CO2 Emitted (g/L)
700
600
500
6000
400
4000
300
2000
200
0
100
0
-2000
-4000
-6000
-100
-200
-300
PET Bottle
  Bottled water from Fiji Islands (~20,000km by sea freight
and truck including empty bottle transport)
  1 L PET bottle, not refrigerated
  Water extraction is negligible
CO2Emi'ed
(g/L)
Energy (kJ/L)
5000
4000
350
300
250
3000
2000
200
150
100
1000
50
0
-1000
-2000
0
‐50
Not
Burned
Burned
Steel Can
  Steel can of Asahi beer from Japan
  Shipping by sea freight and by truck (~10,700km trip)
  350mL can, kept refrigerated
Energy (kJ/L)
5000
4000
3000
CO2 Emitted (g/L)
300
250
200
150
2000
1000
100
50
0
0
-1000
-50
-100
Cardboard Carton
  ½ Gallon carton of milk from Wisconsin
  Assume refrigerated transport (~400 miles round trip Green Bay
to Chicago)
  Assume cardboard burning is carbon neutral (i.e. trees cardboard
is processed from are grown sustainably)
Energy (kJ/L)
CO2 Emitted (g/L)
2000
600
500
1500
400
1000
500
300
Not Burned
200
Burned
100
0
-500
-1000
0
-100
Without Cows
With Cows
With Cows, burned
Total Energy Consumption
Total Embedded Energy (kJ/L)
25000.0
20000.0
15000.0
Not Burned
Burned
10000.0
5000.0
0.0
Wine
Energy Drink
Water
Beer
Milk
Total CO2 Emissions
Total CO2 Emitted (g/L)
2500.0
2000.0
1500.0
CO2 (g)
CO2 (g), with cows
CO2 (g), burned
1000.0
500.0
0.0
Wine
Energy Drink
Water
Beer
Milk
Conclusions
  In terms of total embodied energy, bottle of wine from
France was by far the worst, while milk and water were the
two best.
  In terms of CO2 emitted, the bottle of wine was also the
worst, with the bottle of water being the best (if you include
the CO2 emitted by cows from milk production)
  Milk has a much larger carbon footprint if you factor in the
CH4 (and thus CO2) emitted by the cows that are necessary
to produce the milk
Questions?