AFTERNOON SESSION-TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1966 (M. JENNINGS, Vice Chairman, Presiding) THE PLASTIC BOTTLE FULFILLING PACKAGING NEEDS by W. T. CRUSE, Executive Vice President, Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., New York, New York It's an honor for the Society of the Plastics The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) is The subject for this talk, the plastic bottle, is one of the fastest-growing parts of our industry. It might be best to first define some parameters. The term "plastics" is generally defined as "any one of a large and varied group of materials consisting wholly or in part of combinations of carbon with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and other organic and inorganic elements which, while solid in the finished state, at some stage in its manufacture is made liquid and thus capable of being formed into various shapes, mostly through the application either singly or together of heat and pressure." While plastics is a generic term for materials, there are two basic classifications: thermoset plastics and thermoplastics. Thermoset plastics are those which are set into permanent shape when heat and pressure are applied to them during forming. This category of plastics material is not used in the manufacture of plastic bottles. The thermoplastic family of materials is used in the manufacture of plastic bottles. These materials become soft when exposed to sufficient heat and harden when cooled, no matter how often the process is repeated. Most plastic bottles on the market today are manufactured of thermoplastic materials by the blow molding process. Basically, blow molding consists of extruding a hollow tube of the molten plastic material (called a parison) which is clamped between mold halves and inflated by air. The material is cooled in the mold to retain the desired shape of the mold and then ejected. How did the plastic bottle start? As recently as the mid-Thirties, there was no commercial blow molding of plastic containers or bottles. г OF COMMERCE POSTAGE A About 1937 an experimental group investigated the feas molding new thermoplastic materials including cellulo styrene. Experimental work brought out the unique p each of the thermoplastics. Gradually, mechanical me vised to handle these new materials. This early work demonstrated that it was feasible to containers, tubes, and bottles. At that time, however basic thermoplastic resins was so high that it discourag application. During World War II, this experimental work ha further sufficiently to enable small containers for wa tablets to be produced for the Army Medical Corps fi was accomplished in early 1943. The containers were li particularly desirable because they were durable. Toward the end of World War II, simple househol as decorative Christmas tree balls were being made States from blow molded acetate and styrene. After World War II, low-density polyethylene beca the infant plastic bottle industry. Although the cost of rial was still high, polyethylene offered many advan older thermoplastics lacked. It was not brittle, it ret iency even after molding, it had flow characteristics w a new freedom of design for the shape of containers. E blown of this material were put to use as carriers for a industrial products where durability was extremely 1946, technology for blow molding low-density polyet vanced considerably and plastic containers were findi markets in limited quantities for special applications. Government regulations as set by the Interstate Com sion were rewritten to encompass these new containe required tremendous testing to show Government ag plastic containers were safe and, in most cases, superio those made from conventional materials. Great commercial impetus for the plastic bottle cam squeeze bottle was introduced in 1946. Dr. Jules Mont a liquid deodorant which he wished to be applied as a developed the spray nozzle, but needed a flexible or be tainer to hold the liquid and force it through a spray a approached the group which had done the experimenta tic bottles. This group developed an oval-shape, ty molded polyethylene container to meet his needs. T first commercial plastic squeeze bottle. Within two yea plastic squeeze bottles of Stopette deodorant had been Repeated mention has been made of thermoplastic m plastic bottles. Today, the prime resin for bottle proc ethylene in its three density ranges: low, medium, an of milk in bottles as outlined in Handbook 44. While it was obvious in the early days of the plastic milk bottle that the dairies were trying to fill the bottles to the top and give the consumer honest quantity, close check revealed that bottles manufactured by our member producers in some instances varied due to their own interpretation of Handbook 44. Secondly, as this problem became more acute, an SPI subcommittee on weights and measures was formed. The SPI Weights and Measures team visited many dairies throughout the country and performed extensive, controlled plastic bottle filling trials on the conventional glass milk bottle fillers. Indeed, there were instances of overfill and underfill. We instituted a system of checks to be followed by our member manufacturers and last year petitioned the committee on weights and measures for a broader interpretation of Handbook 44 to include plastic milk bottles. Your committee essentially turned down our request for broader interpretation and looking back now, with justifiable reason. Further consultation with the Office of Weights and Measures in Gaithersburg introduced us to Handbook 67 which covers the packaging of food as a commodity in a container. To eliminate confusion we changed our vocabulary from "plastic milk bottle" to "plastic milk container." We feel the contradiction in terms between bottle (H-44) and container (H-67) as applies to the plastic milk container has been cleared up. Filling and Capping. Most of the filling problems encountered in the early stages of the development program have been solved. In dairies where plastic containers are now in use on glass filling lines they move through filling and capping operations at conventional rates. So far as capping is concerned, a number of commercially available caps provide sanitary convenience and effective closure for the plastic containers presently available. Sanitary filling equipment specifically designed for plastic is being developed and some such fillers are available today. In addition to this, existing glass fillers with some slight modifications will convert so that plastics can be satisfactorily filled. We believe that the functional plastic milk container with its novel and varied designs presents the American dairy industry with a formidable promotional tool which can help increase the per capita consumption of milk in this country, a goal which is most desirable to all of us. The consumer has demonstrated a strong preference for goods packaged in plastic containers, including fluid milk. The fact that over 500 dairies are presently using plastic containers indicates it is already a strong factor as a package for fluid milk. WE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LIBRARIES of milk in bottles as outlined in Handbook 44. While it was obvious in the early days of the plastic milk bottle that the dairies were trying to fill the bottles to the top and give the consumer honest quantity, close check revealed that bottles manufactured by our member producers in some instances varied due to their own interpretation of Handbook 44. Secondly, as this problem became more acute, an SPI subcommittee on weights and measures was formed. The SPI Weights and Measures team visited many dairies throughout the country and performed extensive, controlled plastic bottle filling trials on the conventional glass milk bottle fillers. Indeed, there were instances of overfill and underfill. We instituted a system of checks to be followed by our member manufacturers and last year petitioned the committee on weights and measures for a broader interpretation of Handbook 44 to include plastic milk bottles. Your committee essentially turned down our request for broader interpretation and looking back now, with justifiable reason. Further consultation with the Office of Weights and Measures in Gaithersburg introduced us to Handbook 67 which covers the packaging of food as a commodity in a container. To eliminate confusion we changed our vocabulary from "plastic milk bottle" to "plastic milk container." We feel the contradiction in terms between bottle (H-44) and container (H-67) as applies to the plastic milk container has been cleared up. Filling and Capping. Most of the filling problems encountered in the early stages of the development program have been solved. In dairies where plastic containers are now in use on glass filling lines they move through filling and capping operations at conventional rates. So far as capping is concerned, a number of commercially available caps provide sanitary convenience and effective closure for the plastic containers presently available. Sanitary filling equipment specifically designed for plastic is being developed and some such fillers are available today. In addition to this, existing glass fillers with some slight modifications will convert so that plastics can be satisfactorily filled. We believe that the functional plastic milk container with its novel and varied designs presents the American dairy industry with a formidable promotional tool which can help increase the per capita consumption of milk in this country, a goal which is most desirable to all of us. The consumer has demonstrated a strong preference for goods packaged in plastic containers, including fluid milk. The fact that over 500 dairies are presently using plastic containers indicates it is already a strong factor as a package for fluid milk. |