Sustainable Beverage Packaging

The variety of brands and SKUs in the beverage world is great for reaching out to consumers of every taste, but not as great for the environment. Click through to see how some companies are providing individualized beverage products without creating a surplus of waste.

Coca-Cola Freestyle Vending Machine

Coke’s custom vending machines offers more than 100 beverage options and allows consumers to mix their own drinks. The ingredients are blended within the machine and bottled on the spot, reducing excess inventory and packaging.

JR East Water Touchscreen Vending Machine

This futuristic vending machine uses sensors to detect the age and gender of a potential consumer standing near the machine. Then it suggests products based on the information collected. This helps consumers narrow down the myriad of products on the market, a range of choices that confuses some consumers. This technology is currently only being utilized in Japan.

Pouchlink Vending Machine

The pouchlink vending machine eliminates the unnecessary transportation of water by replacing traditional beverage bottles with pouches of concentrated material. Water is added when the consumer places an order at the point of sale.  The machine also has a chemical-free self-cleaning system.

Return of the Refill

Most packaging will long outlast its contents. Retailers and manufacturers are investigating strategies that will take the inconvenience out of refills. One option is home delivery and refills, similar to the way “the milk man” would collect and deliver glass bottles of milk in the early half of the 1900’s.

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