bottle, narrow-necked, rigid or semirigid container that is primarily used to hold liquids and semiliquids. It usually has a close-fitting stopper or cap to protect the contents from spills, evaporation, or contact with foreign substances.
Although early bottles were made from such materials as gourds and animal skins, glass eventually became the major material employed. Before 1500 bc the Egyptians produced glass bottles by covering silica paste cores with molten glass and digging out the core after the bottle hardened. By 200 bc glassblowing was practiced in China, Persia (modern Iran), and Egypt. Except for making the finest and most costly decorative bottles, hand methods were eventually replaced by processes employing metal molds, and automatic equipment for the continuous manufacture of bottles was introduced commercially in 1903.
Glass bottles afford highly effective protection of their contents and are attractive because of their transparency and high gloss and the variety of shapes attainable. Fragility is a major disadvantage, and only coloured glass protects those products sensitive to the action of light. Returnable glass bottles, which can be reused a number of times, are the least expensive to manufacture on a per use basis; although repeated handling costs may dissipate any saving. Lightweight, nonreturnable types achieved popularity in the 1960s, but by the 1970s returnable bottles were being promoted as one means of combating the ecological problem of disposal of solid wastes.
Plastic bottles, made from raw materials derived from petroleum and manufactured much like glass types, offer the advantage of breakage resistance and lightness, and their contents often can be dispensed by squeezing. In some applications they are less effective than glass in product protection and lack the attractive gloss and transparency of glass. Their disposal contributes to pollution, because few plastic containers disintegrate upon exposure to the elements. Beginning in the mid-1990s, plastic recycling, especially for the commonly used high-density polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate bottles, was instituted to reduce the solid-waste problem.
Chupa ni chupa nyembamba, ngumu au nusu ngumu, ambayo hutumiwa hasa kuhifadhi kioevu na nusu kioevu. Kwa kawaida huwa na kifuniko au kifuniko kinachofaa sana ili kulinda yaliyomo dhidi ya kuvuja, kuvumilia, au kugusana na vitu vya kigeni. Ingawa chupa za mapema zilitengenezwa kwa vifaa kama vile matango na ngozi za wanyama, hatimaye kioo kikawa kitu kikuu kilichotumiwa. Kabla ya 1500 KK, Wamisri walitengeneza chupa za glasi kwa kufunika nyuzinyuzi za silika na glasi iliyomwagika na kuchimba nyuzinyuzi baada ya chupa hiyo kuwa ngumu. Kufikia mwaka wa 200 KK, watu walikuwa wakitumia mashine ya kupulizia kioo nchini China, Uajemi (Iran ya kisasa), na Misri. Baada ya kutengeneza chupa za mapambo, vifaa vya kutengeneza chupa vilitumiwa kwa njia ya mashine za kutengeneza chupa za chuma, na vifaa vya kutengeneza chupa kwa njia ya moja kwa moja vilianzishwa mwaka wa 1903. Chupa za kioo hutoa ulinzi mzuri sana wa yaliyomo na zinavutia kwa sababu ya uwazi wao na kung'aa kwa juu na aina ya maumbo yanayoweza kupatikana. Uharibifu ni hasara kubwa, na kioo rangi tu inalinda wale bidhaa nyeti kwa hatua ya mwanga. Chupa za kioo zinazoweza kurudishwa, ambazo zinaweza kutumiwa tena mara kadhaa, ni za bei nafuu zaidi kutengeneza kwa msingi wa matumizi; ingawa gharama za usindikaji wa mara kwa mara zinaweza kuondoa akiba yoyote. Chupa nyepesi, zisizoweza kurudishwa zilipata umaarufu katika miaka ya 1960, lakini kufikia miaka ya 1970, chupa zinazoweza kurudishwa zilikuwa zikitambuliwa kama njia moja ya kupambana na tatizo la ikolojia la kuondoa taka ngumu. Chupa za plastiki, zilizotengenezwa kutoka kwa malighafi inayotokana na petroli na zinazotengenezwa kama aina za kioo, hutoa faida ya upinzani wa kuvunjika na mwanga, na maudhui yao mara nyingi yanaweza kutolewa kwa kukandamiza. Katika baadhi ya maombi wao ni chini ya ufanisi kuliko kioo katika ulinzi wa bidhaa na kukosa kuvutia gloss na uwazi wa kioo. Kuondolewa kwao huchangia uchafuzi wa mazingira, kwa sababu vyombo vichache vya plastiki huvunjika vinapowekwa chini ya hali mbaya ya hewa. Kuanzia katikati ya miaka ya 1990, kuchakata plastiki, hasa kwa ajili ya kawaida kutumika high-density polyethylene na polyethylene terephthalate chupa, ilianzishwa ili kupunguza tatizo la taka imara.