PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2010

CAPPING / CLOSURES 24 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 06/10 www.petpla.net Thread highlights The drive to lightweighting has led MHT Mold & Hotrunner Technology AG to seek savings from lighter caps and threads without incurring high capital investment costs.* PetCap for the new thread), took the approach of considering everything from the perspective of the bottling companies. Cost savings In addition to the modification costs for the mould, plant conver- sion costs of up to €250,000 could be incurred in each bottling plant, as all guides on the transport routes, the preform fixings on the mandrels inside the blowing unit, the closures and besides require adjustment. The €250,000 figure is before additional manufacturing process costs involved in adjustments. For example, the strengths applied on closing the bottle will have to be changed so as to prevent damage to the shorter and, therefore, weaker thread. An average bottler with approximately 100,000 fillings per year will find that amortisation of the investment involved in the adoption of the low thread will take three to five years, which renders PCO 1881 attractive solely to large bottlers with billions of fillings. The environmental compatibility of products and packaging is a hot topic in the beverage market. It is a matter of concern for consumers, a stipulation by manufacturers and the subject of legislation by government organisations as well. The easiest way to protect the environment is not to overload it in the first place. A reduction in the use of raw materials reduces strain in the supply chain, cuts energy usage in produc- tion and reduces waste in the post- consumer end. Thus, the use of light threads for PET bottles has advantages in both ecological and economic terms. The solution offered by PET suppli- ers has been the PCO 1881 standard, which is designed to have a smaller and lighter thread and cap. While the PCO 1881 standard is gaining ground in the market, PCO 1810 still retains a significant share. The reason for this, according to MHT Mold & Hotrunner Technology AG (MHT), is that con- version to the lower thread height of the 1881 (17mm, rather than 1810’s 21mm) involves significant conver- sion costs for the bottling plants. MHT has launched an alternative which, it claims, ‘squares the circle’. Its MHT- 21Light thread family is 21 mm high but, weighing at 3.9g, it is almost as light as PCO 1881. In developing MHT21Light MHT and its partner, German closure designer CCT Creative Closure Tech- nology (CCT is using the name Com- Cost comparison: PCO 1810, PCO 1881, MHT 21Light Weight comparison 1810 1881 ISBT MHT 21Light Mouth weight 5.05g 3.80g 3.90g Closure weight 2.70g 2.20g 2.70g Mouth and closure weight 7.75g 6.00g 6.60g Savings to 1810 on 100 million preforms 175 t 115 t Material cost savings (Basis 1,100 €/t) Savings on 100 million preforms 192,500 € 126,500 € Conversion investment costs Preform mould 75,000 € 39,000 € Closure mould 150,000 € 0 € Bottling unit 250,000 € 0 € Total investment for 100 Mio preforms 475,000 € 39,000 € Profit / Loss on 100 Mio peforms Investments 475,000 € 39,000 € Savings 192,500 € 126,500 € Result 282,500 € 87,500 € Graph: MHT