For years, the concept of packaging beer in plastic bottles was dismissed as impossible, with plastic considered too porous for a product which is highly sensitive to oxygen. But the rapid development of multi-layer and coated PET bottles has overcome this particular problem, and plastic has now joined glass and aluminium as an increasingly popular format for beer.
A new report from drinks industry analysts Canadean shows that plastic containers in fact already account for around half of all beer and soft drinks packed in western Europe - a position which is only likely to strengthen over the next five years.
The volume of litres packed in plastic by 2007 is expected to grow by almost 20 per cent, according to Canadean, and much of this forecasted growth is expected to come from non-refillable PET, which already accounts for over 84 per cent of total plastic packaging as a result of its popularity in the bottled water market.
Despite the rising popularity of plastic, glass remains by far the most popular material in terms of units produced. Despite a sharp decline in refillable packs, unit production of glass packed beverages is still some 44 per cent higher than second placed plastic, according to Canadean.
However, in contrast to glass, plastic is very much in the ascendancy, increasing both its volume and share of the total market.
Metal is the third most widely used material, in terms of litres and units. Metal beverage packaging is dominated by two-piece cans with over 98 per cent of the market - a share that looks like increasing further, the report claims.
The two main beverage categories to be packed in metal are carbonated soft drinks and beer, but Canadean predicts that sales of carbonates in cans will decline as plastic's popularity increases. Despite the increasing amount of plastic packaging in the beer segment, the can will remain popular, the analysts said: beer should displace carbonates as the leading consumer of metal containers in 2006.
Laminates (short/long-life cartons, pouches and bag-in-box) are the least used packaging material in the drinks sector, but are expected to grow at the second fastest rate. The strongest sectors for laminates are found in the soft drinks market with juice and nectars and still drinks in particular presenting the greatest opportunities for growth.
Single-serve packs account for over 70 per cent of all beverage volume by units and just over 40 per cent of volume by litres, and this dominance looks set to continue, with Canadean predicting that single-serve packs up to 25cl are likely to show the fastest growth up to 2007.
However, the versatility of PET as a material is underlined by the fact that strong increases are forecasted across every size of packaging analysed.