NAPCOR’s Top Bottle Project Gains Funding Sources

Ball Corporation, Broomfield, Colo., Pepsi-Cola Company, Purchase, N.Y., and the Coco-Cola Company, Atlanta, have joined the National Association for PET Container Resources’ (NAPCOR) TOP Bottle Project, which seeks to identify and address barriers that prohibit all PET bottles from being recycled regardless of color, content and construction.

The three companies join Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee; Constar Inc., Philadelphia; Voridian Company, Kingsport, Tenn., which is a division of Eastman Chemical Company; Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., St. Louis; Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colo.; and Owens-Illinois Plastics, Toldeo, as stakeholders providing funds for the project, which was initiated, primarily funded and staffed by NAPCOR, which is based in Charlotte.  The American Plastics Council also provides primary funding for the project.

Michael Schedler, NAPCOR’s vice president of technology, says the TOP Bottle Project began more than three years ago when NAPCOR realized that the nature of PET bottles was about to change in terms of the variety of constructions and colors used. The project addresses collection, processing, reclamation and end use of these newer plastic containers with the goal of establishing recycling opportunities for all PET bottles. This is no small task, Schedler says.