Extremely light and fully recyclable: KHS and Alpla Group develop returnable PET bottle
- Focus on weight reduction and conservation of resources
- Packaging weighs just 55 grams thanks to optimized base and neck
- Returnable bottle containing up to 35% recyclate
Together with Austrian packaging expert Alpla KHS has now developed a returnable PET container that at 55 grams is extremely light. The 1.0-liter bottle’s high recyclate content of 35% also has a very positive effect on its overall ecobalance. With this development the engineering company adheres to its maxim of “reduce and recycle”, states Arne Wiese, Bottles & Shapes product manager at the KHS Group. “We aimed to produce a returnable container system that’s as environmentally friendly as possible. Two parameters are of prime importance here: low weight and a high percentage of recyclate.”
By optimising the bottle base and neck the packaging experts managed to considerably cut down on weight compared to conventional returnable PET containers. At 55 grams, on average the 1.0-liter bottle is ten grams lighter than its standard counterparts. Compared to glass containers it clocks up just a tenth of the weight on the scales. “This optimisation means that the amount of material used is much lower. At the same time, fuel consumption and thus also CO2 emissions drop during transportation,” Wiese explains. Both have a positive effect on the bottle’s ecobalance.
Despite less use of materials the returnable system is ideal for a high circulation. The PET bottle has good resistance to caustic, meaning that its quality and appearance are maintained even after numerous washing cycles. The aspects of easy recyclability and the use of recyclate also played a major role in the bottle’s development. The environmentally-friendly returnable container is not only fully recyclable and thus remains in the recycling loop.
