Process — Producing bottled and canned fizzy drinks (two lines)

The diagram shows how carbonated soft drinks are manufactured, and how the finished drink is then packaged on two parallel lines — one for bottles and one for cans.

Overall, the first four stages are shared by both products: only after the drink has been carbonated does the process split in two, and the two lines mirror each other closely before converging again at the packing stage.

Production begins with water pumped from the local supply, which is filtered to remove impurities. The clean water is then mixed with syrup and flavourings in large vats, and in the fourth stage the mixture is chilled while carbon-dioxide gas is added under pressure, giving the drink its fizz.

At this point the liquid is divided between the two lines. On the bottling line, new plastic bottles are blown into shape, filled under pressure, sealed with caps and labelled. On the canning line, aluminium cans arrive flat-packed, are formed and filled — with the air removed — and then have their lids attached and sealed airtight before being date-stamped. Finally the two streams meet again: bottles and cans alike are packed into crates and sent to the warehouse, from where they are delivered to shops.