May 25, 2006 Astonishingly, glass has been with us for 5000 years. It was one of the first luxuries, is incorporated into 99% of all buildings and cameras and phones and has been a mainstay of global beverage packaging for more than a century. Not long ago, most drink containers were glass. With cardboards, plastics and now aluminium offering some advantages, the glass bottle is under threat. Aluminium drink containers were developed and commercialised and are peculiar to Japan, but this week Universal Can Company (UCC) of Tokyo entered into a licensing agreement for its proven, commercial technology with the American Ball Corporation which will manufacture and sell Alumi-Tek aluminum beverage bottles in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Alumi-Tek offers the added convenience of reclosability to other aluminium bottle attributes, such as long shelf life, tamper-resistance, the ability to chill quickly and recyclability. Looks cool too!

The reclosable aluminum beverage bottle is sold in Japan in sizes ranging from 310 ml (10.5 oz) to 410 ml (13.9 oz). The light weight, recyclable package can be used for a wide variety of beverages, such as carbonated soft drinks, juices, energy drinks, and even coffee drinks and other beverages requiring retort processing.

Ball will be able to leverage its two-piece aluminum beverage can manufacturing expertise to produce the Alumi-Tek bottle because the manufacturing technology for both packages is very similar. The bottles will also have the same high quality graphics found on cans because they are decorated with the same printing process.