Japan's Kirin Beverage smashes own national record, developing lightest plastic bottle

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- Kirin Beverage Co Ltd has managed to reduce the weight of its two-litre plastic bottle from 28.9 grams to 28.3 grams by making the bottle’s top part lighter to help further reduce environmental impact.

The lightest plastic bottle in Japan will be used for ‘Kirin Alkali Ion Water’, beginning this April, according to a statement.

It was developed in collaboration with the Kirin Group’s Research Laboratories for Packaging Technologies by successfully reducing its weight through modification of the threaded portion of the bottle top with a narrower screw thread and a shorter screw.

By utilising this plastic bottle, the company will be able to reduce the use of polyethylene terephthalate resin by about 107 tonnes per year and cut CO2 emissions by about 375 tonnes per year.

The achievement is a result of improving the sustainability of raw materials for plastic bottles under the ‘Kirin Group Plastic Policy’ - an initiative established by Kirin Holdings Co Ltd - to promote the sustainable use of plastics and circulation of resources.

Kirin Beverage has been pursuing activities to reduce environmental impact by developing environmentally conscious containers and packaging. It introduced an ultra-light ‘pecology bottle’ for the two-litre plastic bottle (42 grams) of ‘Alkali Ion Water’ in June 2003.

The bottle was further applied to the two-litre plastic bottle of ‘Kirin Nama-cha (green tea)’ and ‘Kirin Amino Supli’ in March 2005, and to the 1.5-litre plastic bottle of ‘Kirin Gogo no Kocha (black tea)’ in April 2008.

-- BERNAMA