Sixpack Sez

Apr. 18, 2008 | For Earth Day, a return to green beer

WHATEVER happened to returnable bottles?

When I was a kid, we used to pick them up along the trolley tracks on Darby Road in Havertown and haul them over to Terry's Delicatessen, where we'd be rewarded with enough change for the Saturday afternoon matinee at the Brookline Theater.

These days, they're almost extinct. The rare case of returnables that you might encounter at your local beer distributor has probably been sitting in that dusty corner since 1978.

This column isn't about nostalgia, though.

Earth Day is Tuesday, and you'll be hearing a lot about the green movement, sustainability, recycling, our "carbon footprint."

You might even hear about all the good deeds your favorite brewery does to benefit the environment, from planting trees to using cleaner alternative energy sources.

What you won't hear from them is anything about refillable bottles. They're an old and nearly forgotten idea that - if revived - would be one of the most efficient ways to reduce waste and energy consumption in America and, as a side benefit, reduce litter. (Eleven states, including New York, have mandated container deposit laws where bottles are crushed and recycled, not refilled.)

Before World War II, almost all beverages - beer, soda, milk - were sold in refillable glass bottles with a small deposit that would be refunded upon return. Today, the Institute for Local Self Reliance, a Washington, D.C.-based activist group that supports environmentally sound community development, estimates that less than 5 percent of packaged drinks come in refillable bottles.

I know what you're thinking: Who needs refillables when we've got curbside recycling?

Never mind that recycling is a shell game that largely shifts the cost and responsibility of packaging from manufacturers to taxpayers. Instead, think of all the energy spent on the production of new bottles, the collection of empties, the grinding of glass and the production of still more bottles.

Consider also that recycling is not the only solution to waste: more than half of all cans and bottles - 115 billion containers a year - continue to make their way to the landfill.

Now, compare that to a bottle that could be refilled 20 times or more.

According to Inform Inc., an independent research group that studies the impact of business practices on the environment, a bottle that's reused 25 times consumes 93 percent less energy than a single-use bottle. It even takes less water to wash them out than to make new ones.

And it's not just the bottles we're talking about. Remember, returnables come in sturdy, re-usable cartons, not thin cardboard cases, which are usually tossed.

I know, I'm dreaming, right? No one wants to go back to the old days of returnable bottles.

Actually, millions of beer drinkers already return their empties. It's standard practice in Europe.

Go visit a brewery in Belgium or Germany, and the biggest piece of equipment you'll see is the bottle washer. Placed at the head of the production line, the machine automatically sorts, scrubs and sterilizes bottles and their plastic cases. Watching one of the machines at work in Norway, I marveled at how people even dutifully replaced the caps on plastic containers that were returned to be reused by the bottler.

Likewise in Canada, beer drinkers return an astounding 97 percent of refillable bottles. The Brewers Association of Canada boasts that refillable bottles are "quite possibly the most environmentally friendly container on earth" and claims its so-called "closed-loop" system diverts more than a million tons of waste from landfills each year.

Granted, there are impediments to the return of refillable bottles. These days, for example, bottles come in all shapes and sizes; a standardized bottle might have to be adopted so that returns could be shared easily by different breweries.

And you can expect obstruction from America's big brewers, too. Over the years, they've spent millions to fight every bottle bill ever proposed. They won't give in to returnables until they either decide it would be more profitable or they're forced to pay for the recycling and cleanup of their wasteful single-use bottles.

But what strikes me more than the obstacles is that hardly anyone - including avid environmentalists - talks about refillable bottles. The official Earth Day Web site doesn't mention them, and neither do the National Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund or the Environmental Law Institute. (To its credit, the Sierra Club's Zero Waste committee has begun tackling the issue.)

Nor do you hear anything from America's small craft brewers. These are businesses that are disproportionately run by do-gooder progressive types who talk earnestly about environmental responsibility. Not once have I heard one of them mention returnables.

Why? Are beer drinkers just too lazy?

I don't think so. When you see a store like Whole Foods eliminating plastic bags and encouraging customers to bring their own sacks, you realize that even spoiled American consumers can adapt to save the planet.

The trolley tracks are long gone in Havertown. But the bottles are still there, waiting for someone to pick them up.

Notes and resources

In Philly, most beer drinkers already use returnable glass: they're called pint glasses. The bartender fills them up, you empty them, they're washed out and refilled. Brilliant concept.

Another alternative: Take-home brewpub growlers. Same deal.

Refillable bottles are not completely extinct. Yuengling bottles some of its Lager in 12-ounce returnables. I'm not aware of any Philly-area distributors that carry them, however.

I'm told there are a number of dairies that use refillable glass bottles, and there's at least one Coca-Cola bottler in Minnesota that does, too.

As I said above, few groups pay attention to the issue. Here are links to those who do:

The Institute for Local Self Reliance.

Inform Inc.

The Container Recycling Institute

The Zero Waste committee of the Sierra Club

Finally, when I asked America's No. 1 brewer, Anheuser-Busch, about returnables, the company sent me the following statement:

"The decision to use our current bottles was driven by on-going consumer preference for lighter-weight, long-neck bottles.

Non-returnable, 12-ounce long-neck bottles are 100 percent recyclable and contain 28 percent less glass than returnable bottles. Our current bottles help conserve water because they do not require the same sterilization and cleaning process associated with returnable bottles, and use less water overall during the cleaning process.

Anheuser-Busch values the importance of protecting the environment and has been committed to this cause for more than 150 years. Our Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary and one of the world’s largest recyclers of aluminum beverage containers, continues its commitment to exploring economic solutions to recycling issues.

Further information on the company’s environmental programs is available at www.OurPledge.com."

According to Common Cause, Anheuser-Busch is the single biggest opponent to bottle bills, or container deposit laws, in America. Earlier this year it joined with Coca-Cola, Pepsi, the Beer Wholesalers Association and others to spend over $2 million to successfully lobby against a measure that would have upgraded New York's bottle bill. The industry coalition was called New Yorkers for Real Recycling Reform.

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