The new 330ml AmGuard multi-layer PET beer bottle, designed for InBev's Beck's Gold brand, is being introduced into the German market. Sold individually and in six packs, the brewer says that the product is aimed at the special events sector.
Amcor says this latest introduction is evidence of the huge strides PET has taken in the beer market over the past 12 months. While in Germany much of the demand was initially driven by new one-way packaging legislation, the company points to a number of recent consumer studies which have shown a growing acceptance by consumers of beer in PET.
There are currently more than 20 beer brands in Europe that have been launched in multi-layer PET. Over half of these are in AmGuard bottles developed by Amcor, including Karlsberg, Holsten and Tucher in Germany.
Demand is also growing for the material in emerging east European markets.
Such demand is helping to drive further technical developments in PET. In addition to its multi-layer technology, for example, Amcor will also be able to offer mono-layer barrier solutions to meet specific customer requirements.
The company believes this flexibility of PET will be key to its continuing success for beer packaging.
"There is a huge variety of beer produced today, with many different tastes, flavours and brewing processes," said Phil Gunning, Amcor PET Europe's vice-president sales and marketing.
"Indeed, some beers even rely on a certain amount of oxidation to deliver their taste so too effective an oxygen barrier can actually be detrimental to the product.
"PET technology means bottle formulations can be adapted to particular product specifications and requirements, and this remains a key area of development for us."
The AmGuard multi-layer construction features Amcor's innovative Bind-Ox oxygen scavenging material that has typically shown a shelf life in excess of six months for other beers.
"At Amcor our priority is the continuation of our work into barrier solutions and design innovations in order to be able to offer beer companies a tailored solution for their particular requirements," he said.
Gunning also argues that PET's solid environmental record - in particular its recyclability (Amcor already offers multi-layer bottles that can contain up to 25 per cent recycled material) - and its design flexibility, enabling beer brands to establish a unique identity on shelf, will also contribute significantly to the material's growth in the beer sector.
However, companies such as Amcor may have to do more to convince some environmentalists that PET is a truly environmentally friendly material. In Japan, Asahi Breweries was recently forced to cancel plans to sell beer in plastic bottles, following a vigorous campaign led by Greenpeace Japan.
The pressure group claimed that the introduction of plastic bottles would create huge waste disposal problems and would damage the environment because adequate recycling plans had not been put in place. The pressure group said that the Japanese beer industry should stick to existing glass bottles, for which a recycling system exists.
But perhaps the Asahi withdrawal of its PET beer bottle plan is more a symptom of the fact that Japan is far behind both Europe and the US in terms of PET recycling facilities. However, if PET is to indeed become a viable and fully recyclable material in the west, then it is vital therefore that adequate PET recycling is put in place.
PET bottle recycling market did increase in Europe last year, with the number of European PET bales offered to the recycling markets jumping from 449,000 tonnes in 2002, to 612,000 tonnes in 2003.