Bottles

A beverage bottle is a rigid container with a "mouth" and neck that is narrower than the body. Bottles are often made of glass, clay, plastic, aluminum, or other impervious materials, and store liquids such as water, milk, soft drinks, beer, wine, and spirits.

Glass Bottle

A glass bottle is a bottle molded from glass. Glass bottles can vary considerably in size and shape. The history of glass can be traced back to at least 12,000 BC where glass coated objects have been found. Because glass manufacturing is now a highly mechanized process and, modern bottles are not hand-blown as they were in the past, millions of glass bottles are created worldwide every day. Glass bottle manufacturing occurs in several stages. It begins with the raw material, then melts; then it under goes annealing, cooling, and physical inspection by both machines and lasers for imperfections. Glass bottles undergo another physical inspection, pass through a quality control stage, and are packaged. Lamination is an added step in glass manufacturing because it strengthens the glass. Laminated safety glass, for example, is stronger than regular glass because it has an added layer of plastic over the glass. When a non-laminated bottle drops, the glass breaks and sends shards and pieces of glass everywhere. When a laminated glass bottle drops, the glass still breaks, but the outer layer of plastic contains the broken pieces of glass.

Plastic Bottles

Plastic bottles exist by a variety of molding techniques. The process depends on the types of materials used.
Carbonated beverage and water bottles contain Polyethylene terephthalat (PET). PET possesses very good alcohol and essential oil barrier properties, generally good chemical resistance, and a high degree of impact resistance and tensile strength. Additionally, the orienting process serves to improve gas and moisture barrier properties and increase strength.

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is the most widely used resin in plastic bottles. This material is economical, impact resistant, and provides a good moisture barrier. HDPE is compatible with a wide range of products including acids and caustics. However, it is not compatible with solvents. HDPE is an FDA-approved food grade material that is naturally flexible and translucent; the addition of color will make HDPE opaque, but not glossy.

Low Density Polyethylene: LDPE is similar to HDPE in composition, but it is less rigid and generally less chemically resistant than HDPE. LDPE is noticeably more translucent, and in squeeze applications, a very important ingredient. LDPE is significantly more expensive than HDPE.