PURPOSE: To put empty containers in order and house them and to improve protective properties and hygienic conservation of the empty containers by forming empty container groups, in which many empty containers are stopped by respective holes of stopper plate bodies and arranged, by piling up the empty container groups and housing them in a bag, and by exhausting air in the bag.

CONSTITUTION: Many necks of empty plastic containers 1 are arranged and stopped by a stopper plate body 2 in a state, where they are separated from each other at suitable spaces., to form an empty container group 3. The stopper plate body 2 is a square one with four corners formed into circular arcs and many holes 4, in which the necks of many empty containers 1 are inserted and stopped, are formed in the plate body longitudinally and transversely. The empty container groups 3 are piled up in a plurality of stages and housed in a bag 5 composed of plastic film. Then, when the upper end open part of the bag 5 is closed and air is let out of the inside of the bag so that the pressure in the bag is reduced, the bag 5 shrinks to adhere closely to the surfaces of the empty containers 1 positioned at the outer periphery of the empty container groups 3 and to enter between containers 1. Further, the bag adheres closely to the outer peripheral end face of the stopper plate body 2 and is biased to that part. Consequently, all empty containers 1 are held in an immovable state relative to the bag 5.