Adnams Ale Bottles Go Lighter
For U.K.'s Rightweighting Push

O-I has produced a new benchmark in lightweight glass bottles for Adnams' distinctive range of authentic beers. They are the first U.K. ale bottles to be produced using narrow neck press and blow (NNPB) technology and dropped the bottle weight from 15.87 ounces to 10.55 ounces for the 500-ml (16.9-fluid-oz.) amber glass bottle—a 34% drop.

The new Adnams bottles are more than 1.4 ounces lighter than the previous best weight for ale bottles and more than 3.5 ounces lighter than most bottles in the category. O-I pioneered this dramatic improvement through its highly developed expertise in NNPB manufacturing technology. It then took the concept to Adnams because the Suffolk brewer is widely recognized for its commitment to sustainability.

The United Kingdom's Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP; www.wrap.org.uk) is a private company that works to achieve the U.K.'s environmental targets by partnering with and encouraging businesses and consumers to be more efficient in their use of materials and recycle more often. Adnams worked with WRAP under their "ContainerLite" initiative for "rightweighting" bottles, which has expanded into three more "GlassRite" initiatives for different sectors. Adnams also consulted the University of East Anglia's Carbon Reduction team.

The resulting Adnams bottle retains the bullet-shaped profile readily associated with the Adnams brand and features sharp embossing of the brand positioning—"Beer From the Coast"—around the foot of the container. The sharply flared heel and the body shape still creates a good size impression while reducing the amount of glass used by more than 550 tons a year and reducing CO2 emissions by 415 tons.

For the final design polish, Adnams worked with Cookchick Design in the U.K. for the rebranding effort and O-I packaging specialists. Doug Trenkamp, manager, product innovation, at O-I, explains that there was a lot of opportunity in this project. "Narrow neck press and blow is really pretty ideal for this application," says Trenkamp, explaining that developing technologies, such as surface treatments that preserve glass strength, may bring further reductions in consumer glass bottle weight.