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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

Institute of Brewing and Distilling

General Certificate in Beer Packaging
(GCP)
Section 4 RB
Specialist Section – Returnable Bottles
(RB) and Packaging Materials.
4.1 RB: Bottle Design
• Shape gives strength

• Many sizes 180ml to 680ml

• Logoised

• Clear and green glass allows UV light to spoil beer

• Broken glass is hazardous especially neck slivers from poorly moulded

bottles

• Exact dimensions are vital as bottles are filled to a level

• Bottles must accept a crown cork

• Other dimensions limited by size of washer pockets, star wheels etc

• Returnable bottles are heavier and more expensive

The following summarises the important features of design of Non-returnable

glass bottles:

Material Glass
Shape Beer bottles are round. Circular shapes have the strength to
withstand the internal pressures generated during filling and
pasteurising.
Affect on Virtually nil; glass is very smooth and easy to clean, it is also
beer quality insoluble and cannot taint the beer.
Glass is translucent and clear or green bottles allow UV light
to cause ‘lightstruck’ flavours in the beer. Amber (brown) glass
protects beer almost totally against “light-striking” flavour
effects.
Resistance to Depends on the thickness of the bottle. Returnable bottles are
wear & tear heavier than non-returnable.
There is a tendency to move to a lighter weight of bottle to
reduce costs.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

Dimensions The bottle’s volume is important because, with machines filling

to a level, the beer volume depends on the precision of the
bottle’s dimensions.
The profile of the top of the bottle is important because it is
required to seal on the filler head and onto the crown.
Special Particles of broken glass are very difficult to detect in a bottle
features and procedures like rinsing, inspection and separation in case
of burst bottles need to be in place to protect the consumer.

The Glass Bottle

It is useful to know the different parts of the bottle and these are given below:

Sealing
Surface Mouth or Bore

Locking
Ring Finish

Neck
Reinforcing Ring
Neck
Label
Shoulder
Mould
Seam

Body
Label
Label Panel

Back
Label

Foot
Label

Heel or Insweep Base (Push up)

Stippling

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

Glass is an inorganic substance fused at high temperature and cooled so that

it solidifies in a vitreous or non-crystalline condition.

All commercial glass is based on ‘silica’ which is the principal component of

sand. Common beach sand is unsuitable for making commercial glass since
it contains impurities and varies widely in composition. However, there are
large deposits of high purity silica sands available in many parts of the world.
Glass bottle manufacturing today is a very capital intensive process – a typical
furnace costing £25M with an expected life of 10-15 yrs. It has a high energy
usage – with a melting temperature of around 1500°C and a continuous
operation for 365 days per year.

4.2 RB: Glass Materials

Sand (Silica) is mixed with other materials in order to lower the temperature
and allow glass to melt, mix well and release any trapped air. A typical mix or
‘batch’ is:

Silica 70%

Soda Ash 15%

Limestone 9%

Refining Agents }

Colourants } 6%

De-colourisers }

Cullet (broken glass) is normally added at the rate 30-75% and this reduces
the temperature required for the melt to below 1500oC, saving up to 10% of
the energy consumed.

The raw materials are weighed in batches and mixed. The resultant mix is
then added continuously in order to maintain a consistent level of 1.5 to 2
metres in the furnace. A furnace is dedicated to one colour, which is usually:

White flint (clear)

Amber, for UV sensitive products or for decoration
Green, for decoration

In order to achieve a colour, colorants are added to the batch. Also if there is
colour present when a clear flint bottle is requires, decolourisers are added.
Iron in sand, for instance, will give a greenish tint which is due to the iron
content of the sand.

Amber - iron, sulphur, carbon

Green - chromium oxides
Blue - cobalt oxides

Selenium (red) and cobalt (blue) oxides are used as decolourisers

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

Glass Melting
Most furnaces today use natural gas, and the fire from one side of the
furnace. The hot air is exhausted at the other side into a regenerator. The
heat generated melts the batch as it travels through the furnace. A
temperature of up to 1500oC is generated, over the surface of the batch,
which melts as it floats through the furnace on the surface of the molten glass.
The process is carefully controlled – the mix and temperatures must be
consistent in order to ensure a good product. Any change will give rise to
problems when the bottle is being produced.
The molten glass now exits the furnace and shears cut the stream to create
what is called the ‘gob’. The amount of glass in the gob is dependent on the
temperature and composition of the glass, the size of the orifice, the length of
stroke of the plunger and the timing of the shears. The gob then passes down
a trough into the forming machine, which houses the bottle moulds The
consistency of the glass is similar to thick syrup.

Principles of Bottle Making

There are three main processes for the production of glass containers:

1. Blow and Blow

2. Press and Blow
3. NNPB (Narrow Neck Press and Blow)

Bottle Forming
Bottle forming is essentially a two stage process. The blank side receives the
‘gob’ and makes the ‘blank’ or ‘parison’. This partly formed bottle is then
transferred to the mould side and the parison is blow into the final shape.

There are essentially three different processes.

Blow and Blow Process

Beverage bottles up till the late 1970s were all made by this process. The gob
is dropped into the blank mould, then two puffs of compressed air are
successively applied to each end of the blank. The parison is then transferred
into the final mould and is blown to shape

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

It should be noted that while the parison is formed in the final stage, the air
bubble may not form a perfect uniform internal shape, giving wall thickness
variability.

Press and Blow Process

With this process the parison is not made by blowing but by being
pressed into an exact shape by a plunger; this makes the process especially
suitable for glass jars.

Narrow Neck Press and Blow Process (NNPB)

This modern process allows bottles which would normally been made using
the blow and blow method, to be light-weighted by 10 to 20%, due to a
consistent wall thickness.
This process is usually restricted to light weight NRB and is not usually
available for Returnable bottles.
A high degree of precision is required with this technology and it is normal for
manufacturers only to be interested in using this process when there is a large
volume to be produced. Also the tooling cost is higher.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

Surface treatment and annealing of bottles is necessary in order to give them

inner and surface strength, and sufficient ‘slip’ so that they run well down a
packaging line.

Annealing

When a bottle leaves the forming machine its outer surface is hard having
cooled to 300oC; however, the inner part is still hot and soft. If cooling was to
continue naturally, the inner parts would contract more than the outer cooler
surface and dangerous stresses would develop. If a bottle is left to cool
without annealing, it is so weak that if you give a tap with something metallic,
it will implode! Annealing is therefore necessary and involves heating the
bottle to 550oC and then slowly cooling it down in a tunnel called the Lehr.

Hot End Treatment

This treatment is to protect the surface from abrasion. The layer consists of a
metal oxide, usually tin. Titanium and zirconium can also be used. Tin is
applied as a stannic chloride vapour and decomposes to the oxide during
heating. If there is too much coating in the finish area of the bottle it can be
blamed for promoting the rusting of crowns. This protective layer will gradually
be dissolved over time making the bottle much more vulnerable to scuffing.

Cold End Treatment

This is carried out as the bottles emerge from the annealing layer. Bottles are
still at a temperature of approx. 100oC. Cold end treatments are soluble
coatings (including polyethylene glycols and their esters) and are applied by
spray heads that traverse backward and forward between the rows of bottles.
These coatings allow the bottles to “slip” against each other and conveyors
and act as lubricants.

Bottle Faults and Testing

Glass manufacturers adhere to an international standard which is why bottles

in all countries have the same size of neck finish. The most common being
the 28mm.

All manufacturers carry out intensive automatic on-line and many off-line
checks to ensure quality standards are maintained, so that packaging
companies do not have to carry out quality checks on receipt.

Manufacture of Crowns

Types of Crown (Shell)

Stainless Steel (SS)

Electrolytic Tin Plate

Tin Free Steel (TFS) which is electro-chrome coated steel

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

TFS is the most common. However tin plate gives more corrosion protection
and maybe favoured when packs are shrinkwrapped. It has a much shinier
appearance and is more susceptible to scratching. SS is best for corrosion
protection but is very expensive.

If corrosion is to be avoided, bottles must be effectively dried under the crown

skirt. This should be carried out with air jets before the labeller, at the correct
angle, carrying high volume air at low pressure. Taking high pressure air off
the ring main not an option; a stand alone air compressor is that the most
satisfactory solution.
crown from rusting.
Also a corrosion inhibitor in the pasteuriser will assist in preventing the

Originally a crown cork had a cork insert as a seal. This was not leak proof so
an aluminium spot was used to cover the cork and act as a liner and seal.
This was known as the aluspot crown.
With the development of plastics the aluspot crown was replaced by a liquid
PVC plastisol. These crowns have foamed liners which is forgiving when
applied to returnable bottles which could have a slightly damaged sealing
area. However when bottles are stacked on pallets without crate protection,
the weight on the crown will flatten the plastic and could result in bottles on
the lower pallets leaking.

The most commonly used crown liners today are PVC and PVC-Free Dry-
blends.
They are suitable for good pressure retention before and after pasteurisation,
stacking, oxygen barrier and scavenging with soft and hard polymers. A
double lip design is used.

The above crowns are used on bottles with a standard finish. However, a twist
off crown needs to be profiled to fit the bottle finish. The same crowner can be
used but the crown tolerances need to be better managed within the standard
tolerance of 28.7mm+/-0.3mm.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

4.3 RB: Packaging Materials

Packaging materials are one of the vital parts of packaging and the
understanding of them is important. So often a high speed machine fails to
run as designed because the material purchased has not been properly
specified for that machine.

The following defines Primary, Secondary and Tertiary packaging

Primary
The product cannot be sold without these materials. They contain the product
and meet legislation e.g. bottle, crown and label or can and can end with
product and best before information
Examples
Bottles (Glass, Aluminium & PET), Crowns (Tin Free Steel, Tinned or
Stainless Steel), Roll on Closures (ROC), Labels or Sleeves (Paper,
OPP - Oriented Polypropylene, PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride).
Secondary
This effectively is the material that collates the primary package in some form
i.e. a second layer of packaging. This turns the primary package into a
saleable or marketable unit
Examples
Returnable bottles are packed principally in plastic Crates or rigid
cardboard Cartons, which carry the Company name of Logo and be
branded
Tertiary
This relates to the remainder of the packaging. It is really there to protect the
finished product, and allow it to be transported safely, and without damage, to
its final destination.
Examples
Pallets, Locator Boards, Stretch & Shrink Film.

Packaging Materials Functions

There are two main functions of packaging, these are:

Technical Functions

Marketing Functions

a) Technical Functions

Containment
• Holds contents without leakage

Protection
• Product does not hurt the consumer

Preservation
• Product will keep for the period described as the shelf life of the
product which be up to the best before date and is not responsible
for imparting flavours

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)
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GCP (RB): Section 4 (RB): Returnable bottles and packaging materials

Measurement
• Holds the legally declared quantity

Storage
• Will travel and store successfully

b) Marketing Functions

Communication
• Product name and anything else about the product

Display
• Looks good on the shelf. Neat, tidy and well packaged

Information
• Contents, ABV, Best Before, Batch Number and any other
relevant information which will normally be a legal
requirement

Promotion
• Packaging is often used to promote a product – a peelable
label for example

Selling
• Final packaging will sell the product

Materials Specifications
The functions can be understood, but it is important that the materials that are
purchased enable the final package to function as perceived. Poor
specifications can be responsible for issues on the packaging line or in trade.
These specifications also need to be controlled. One approach, to make
control easier, is to divide the specification into three parts.

The first part is an overall policy statement. This would normally relate to a
restriction in chemical treatment or the use of compounds which could affect
the product. This would include the requirement for tests, should the supplier
wish to use a different form of treatment; for example, the use of a different
lacquer inside a beverage can. It may also include an environmentally based
statement that requires a percentage of the supplied material to be recycled.
This of course needs to be done with great sensitivity, as some materials will
have a significantly reduced performance if there is a recycled content.

The second part will cover all components that come under a common
heading, such as bottles, cans, trays, cartons, film etc. This will include the
general description, technical requirements, quality and environment specific
to the component.

Finally, the third part will be specific to the actual component, giving
dimensions, type of material, barcodes, artwork and so on. This is agreed with
the supplier and with other parties, such as marketing, sales and
manufacturing. As and when components are added or changed there is a
minimum quantity of documentation involved – whether it is computer based
or in a file. Each component is given a code –either alphanumeric or numeric.

© The Institute of Brewing and Distilling (GCP Revision Notes Version 1 2008)