Nigerian breweries change over to PET
Nigerian Breweries (Heineken Operating Company in Nigeria) commissioned PET Engineering’s team for the extension of their Climax, Amstel Malta and Maltina brands packaging to PET. The order involved a number of restrictions which included the need to use a preform that was readily available on the market to create unique shapes that would stand out on the shelf.
It would also enhance the brand’s impact with a type of packaging not hitherto used by the brand. Equally important was the requirement to maintain existing dimensions to prevent changes on the bottling line and ensure the containers were able to withstand the pasteurisation process of up to 30PU at 61°C.
The project started with the technical design of the containers and, in particular, with the study of a low petaloid able to withstand the internal pressure at which the container was then subjected during the pasteurisation cycle.
The first stage in the project was to build the specific equipment to reproduce as closely as possible the brewery’s industrial pasteurisation process. After having validated the method through numerous tests, different types of resins were considered that would allow the production of a PET container able to withstand the pasteurisation process normally used for glass bottles. After choosing the resin with the highest IV, in order to limit the deformation after filling and heating treatment, different batches of bottle samples were prototyped. These were tested and subjected to pasteurisation in order to identify the best performing combination between bottle design and resin. The result was three PET containers obtained using a single type of preform, with a visually elegant petaloid base able to meet the specifications of Heineken. The project was completed with the delivery of four mould series for the Ota plant.
