Innovative Eco-Friendly Re-Use For Plastic Water Bottles Granted Patent

KleinCepts, Inc., developer of the Eco-Connect Bottle System, is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a new patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,644,828, for its Bottle Container Coupling System. The new patent ensures broad protection to bottle suppliers or beverage marketers that license this innovative technology to create widespread re-use of their empty plastic containers - standard, lightweight, biodegradable or even new plant-based bottles.

Using the game-changing System, existing or new brands can make their ordinary plastic bottles interactive, eco-friendly and more sustainable, adding value for consumers and providing a competitive edge on the shelf. The patented system uses a connector that is molded into the bottle base - without affecting the bottle shape or brand identity - allowing empties to be stacked with the caps on or threaded together with the caps off.

The resulting secondary usage encourages safe and imaginative creative play and can reduce waste by keeping bottles out of landfills and supporting recycling awareness. Additionally, sheets of connected empties can fill a humanitarian need as low-cost building insulation in developing and re-building nations.

Optional connector pieces and accessories for the patented system - wheels, lights, stickers, themed kits, etc. - can provide additional profit centers for participating brands and their retailer customers; and add endless creative and promotional possibilities. They'll challenge kids' imaginations and allow branded empty bottles to live on as rolling or floating toys, soccer goals, tunnels, playhouses, licensed characters, and so on.

In the fast food environment, for example, beverage containers featuring this new technology could be included in children's meals in a _collect-_em-all' movie tie-in. Empty bottles could be the bodies for various characters as kids screw the feet into the patented bottle base, and the head and arms onto the bottle neck; adding stickers to develop the characters even more.

The inventor of the Eco-Connect Bottle System, Steven Klein, is a retired educator and founder of the Learning Store Ltd, a chain of educational toy stores: "Each year, tens of billions of empty beverage bottles end up in landfills. Bottles featuring our patented technology are designed to take a different journey. They'll address consumer concerns about the environment and add value to the brand after it's consumed. Essentially, without increasing its retail cost, a brand can create a difference that will drive purchase loyalty and frequency. It can also generate lots of positive PR, for example, by sponsoring related events, like creative building contests that recycle all the entries.

"Today, when I look at the terrible devastation in Haiti, I think about how, in the future, donated water bottles featuring this technology could be put to a very efficient and cost-effective re-use as insulation in areas rebuilding from natural disasters...rather than just adding to the waste problem."

Chris Bragas, CEO of Eastwest Marketing Group, the branding and creative agency for the Eco-Connect Bottle SystemTM adds, "The patent is an exciting and important step in bringing an innovative and earth-friendly container to the beverage industry. We look forward to finding creative ways to help innovative beverage marketers reduce their carbon footprint and drive incremental transactions with their increasingly eco-conscious retail customers and consumers."

SOURCE: KleinCepts, Inc.