Six pack rings
Encyclopedia
Multi-pack
A Multi-pack is packaging that combines or holds multiple items or smaller packages.-Functions:Multi-packs can be used to:* Combine several items for a larger unit of sale, often with a reduced individual cost* Provide convenience to carry several items...
s of beverage, particularly six pack
Six pack
A six pack is a type of multi-pack made of six canned or bottled drinks, typically a soft drink or beer, which are sold as a single unit. Cans are usually connected with plastic six pack rings, HDPE Can Carriers, shrink film, or paperboard....
s of beverage can
Beverage can
A beverage can is a tin can designed to hold a specific portion of a beverage. Beverage cans are made of tin-plated steel or aluminium.- History :...
s.
History
The six pack rings in most common use today are the descendants of an original design by ITW Hi-Cone, which first introduced them in St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
in the summer of 1960. Within 10 years, plastic rings had completely replaced the paper and metal based holders then common in the market. Today several other manufacturers continue to produce six pack rings. As interest in multi-pack
Multi-pack
A Multi-pack is packaging that combines or holds multiple items or smaller packages.-Functions:Multi-packs can be used to:* Combine several items for a larger unit of sale, often with a reduced individual cost* Provide convenience to carry several items...
s has continued to grow, other variations, including paperboard baskets and HDPE plastic can carriers have grown in popularity, providing an alternative to conventional six pack rings .
Repackaging
The demand for six-pack carriers may continue indefinitely and is supported, at least in part, by an active secondary market for repackaging by retailers. The repackaging trend began in 1983 when multi-pack carriers were made available to the retail community by MPI, a company owned by Nancy Mumm.MPI developed a domestic and international market by widely promoting the advantages of manual repackaging programs. These programs were based on the principle that if retailers would severely trim their inventory SKUs, follow a highly efficient purchasing method based exclusively on the lowest cost per can and start an in-house repackaging operation using under-utilized employees then the result would be increased profits and productivity with lower priced products across the multipack spectrum. Given new and easy access to low cost carriers in small quantities, retailers finally gained independence from the tightly structured sales programs being offered by wholesale distributors which often seemed to be designed to boost gallonage sales and/or profits for the manufacturer rather than promoting retail competition and lower prices to the consumer. When a carrier is applied correctly the package is of identical quality to those produced by a brewer or soda canner.
The business was sold to Illinois Tool Works (ITW)
Illinois Tool Works
Illinois Tool Works Inc. or ITW is a Fortune 200 company that produces engineered fasteners and components, equipment and consumable systems, and specialty products. It was founded in 1912 by Byron L...
in January, 2004 and today remains one of many six-pack ring repackaging distributors operating in the U.S.
Environmental concerns
Since the late 1970s, six pack rings have been cited as a particularly dangerous form of marine litterMarine debris
Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human created waste that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or...
. Marine wildlife have been found entangled in the rings and unable to free themselves, sometimes strangling to death. The instruction to cut apart the rings before disposal has been a popular one from environmentalists, promoted as a simple way that consumers can help alleviate the problem.
However, six-pack rings are a relatively minor contributor to marine litter
Marine debris
Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human created waste that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or...
and wildlife fatalities. Fishing gear and other plastic wastes are a larger problem. Six pack carrier rings are made to photo-degrade
Photodegradation
Photodegradation is degradation of a photodegradable molecule caused by the absorption of photons, particularly those wavelengths found in sunlight, such as infrared radiation, visible light, and ultraviolet light. However, other forms of electromagnetic radiation can cause photodegradation...
within 90 days of being littered—most less than 30 days. This is in accordance with the U.S. Federal regulation for testing plastic photo-degradation, which is 40 CFR Ch. I (7–1–03 Edition)PART 238.
In pop culture
- "Obsoletely FabulousObsoletely Fabulous"Obsoletely Fabulous" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama.-Plot:At a robot expo, Mom's Friendly Robot Co. introduces a new, more advanced robot: Robot 1-X. Feeling unwanted after Professor Farnsworth buys one to help out around the office, Bender decides to get a...
", an episode of the animated television series FuturamaFuturamaFuturama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
, features six ducks trapped in the same six pack ring, who are then mistaken for beer cans by the robot Bender. - The 2006 animated film Happy FeetHappy FeetHappy Feet is a 2006 American-Australian computer-animated family film with music, directed and co-written by George Miller. It was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures and Kingdom Feature Productions and was released...
features a penguin whose head is trapped in a six pack ring. - In The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "The Old Man and the LisaThe Old Man and the Lisa"The Old Man and the Lisa" is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons eighth season, first aired by the Fox network on April 20, 1997. In the episode, Mr. Burns becomes bankrupt and asks Lisa to help him become rich again. On the condition that he will lose his evil manners she helps him, and the...
", Montgomery Burns attaches millions of "recycled" six-pack holders together into a net, which he uses to catch tons of sea life and make "Li'l Lisa Slurry".