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Paper Bottles for Amenities
The first paper bottle for hair shampoo I saw intrigued me. It was being promoted as the environmental alternative to plastic bottles for hotel bathroom amenities. I had my doubts; I think bulk dispensing is the truly environmental alternative for shampoo and soap. But I'm seeing more of these paper bottles all the time. And often promoted by companies that tout themselves as green or environmentally friendly companies.
Paper bottles for shampoo, soap, conditioner and lotion are starting to make a big appearance in the hotel amenity lines. Hotel toiletries are going through a big change as environmental issues heat up. Even the wine industry is getting into the act with paper bottles or boxed wine. What is the best way to package amenities? Bulk dispensing is still the most environmentally friendly approach to providing guests with cleaning products. But for those hospitality venues that want individual containers, are paper bottles a better alternative to plastic bottles?
I learned, in researching paper bottles, that paper bottles were introduced to the milk industry as a glass bottle alternative. But other than the shelf-stabilized milk I have seen in European markets and for milk alternatives in the U.S., I don't see paper bottles for milk today. What happened with that idea?
And on the inside front cover of my September 2008 issue of Natural Home magazine there was a winery promoting their environmentally friendly wine -- packaged in a paper bottle. I thought my days of boxed wine were over, but it seems the wine industry is at least looking at this packaging alternative more seriously than before. But that begs the question: are paper bottles more environmentally correct or sensitive than plastic bottles, much less glass bottles.
What I have uncovered is that paper bottles aren't 100 percent paper. I know, you aren't surprised by that discovery. And you probably figure they are lined with at least a petroleum-based plastic film. That's what I figured. But that's not the total solution to making paper bottles impervious to the liquids they hold. Some paper bottles are made with micro-thin layers of paper, plastic and aluminum, though they mostly contain paper.
So is it easier to recycle a paper/plastic/aluminum bottle than a bottle made of any one of those ingredients? I doubt it. In fact, I'll bet it's difficult and expensive, if not more difficult because there are fewer recycling processes for paper bottles.
Then why are paper bottles for hotel amenities considered environmentally correct? I think it's transportation and waste management issues that make them environmentally sensitive. The empty bottles are cheaper to ship to the bottling plants, and then cheaper to ship to distributors and consumers. That transportation footprint is lighter than for plastic bottles.
And empty paper bottles are smaller and lighter than plastic bottles so throwing them away won't cost as much. That makes waste management a lighter footstep too.
But what about the shampoo and soap that come in these paper bottles? How do they rate? Just like any hospitality amenity it varies. I've found some amenity products to be high quality and others to be inferior and something I won't use. Some amenities rely on petro-chemicals and contain ingredients that can be harmful to the users.
One issue I have with paper bottles over plastic bottles though is that at least the plastic bottles can be closed, traveled with and reused another time in another place. The paper bottles that are being used for amenities today don't have the feature of resealing which means the shampoo has to be thrown away after the guest checks out of their room. That's an unintended waste. What a shame.
If the milk bottles in 1934 could be made to reseal it seems to me the paper bottle manufacturers today can come up with a resealing shampoo bottle. And while they are at it, maybe they can come up with a paper bottle that is truly recyclable, giving bulk shampoo and soap dispensing an truly green alternative.
Posted by Kit
