ABSTRACT
Beverage is a drink specifically prepared for human consumption and beverages almost always consist of largely water. Of course, the most popular beverage consumed worldwide is water followed by tea and coffee. ¢e beverage landscape ranges from soft drinks, bottled waters, and all nonalcoholic drinks to beer, wine, spirits, and all other alcohol drinks. At the turn of the new millennium, bottled drinking water has assumed global importance and has become a growing moneyswindling business in the light of health conscious apprehensions on consuming untreated natural water, unlike in earlier times. ¢e second dominant beverage that is being produced and consumed is soft drinks, by all age groups across the globe. Of course all other drinks based on dairy and fruits, besides the alcoholic drinks, have also earned key pivotal positions in the beverage market. ¢ere are many companies that manufacture, bottle and market the drinks worldwide. However, few are top players in this ever-growing market, because beverage consumption is always on the rise and there is more and more consumer demand. ¢e top 20 players in the global drinks market ranked based on the 2009 annual sales (estimated in million US dollars), reported in beverageworld.com, are presented in Table 1.3 of Chapter 1, which indicates the strong global presence of the beverage industry. All these industries that manufacture beverages generate processing wastes/ by-products that hold merit for discussion in the context of waste/byproduct disposal and management through valorization.
