PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2010

BOTTLING / FILLING 38 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 09/10 www.petpla.net PETplanet Zoom Bottle analysis and comparison by PETplanet Insider in collaboration with the Technical University of Ilmenau In recent years PET bottles have enjoyed unrivalled popularity. In supermarkets and discounts stores today glass bottles are very much in the minority, and with the widespread demand for carbonated drinks even cartons are less frequently seen on the store shelves. Whilst the automobile industry is striving to develop a universally acceptable “world car”, with PET bottles the trend is taking the opposite direction - German bottles have not been designed to withstand the climate and transport infrastructure in Africa, in the USA mainly larger sized bottles are sold compared to those in Germany, and there is much more customising of bottle shape and colour in that market, in the Far East there are other market requirements, all of which are reflected in the bottle design. If we look more closely at the different bottles on offer there emerges a wide range of additional criteria to be compared, such as the type of cap, type of label and label material, surface defects, stability, preform supplier, and many others. To make this diverse range of criteria easier to follow PETplanet and the plastics technology department at the Technical University of Ilmenau (one of whose main interests is PET) have agreed to work together to carry out the necessary research and so combine in-depth market knowledge with the required technical expertise. In addition to an extensive review of the German discounter market the study will also look at countries outside Europe in order to be able to present the widest possible comparison. Table 1: Quantity of bottles analysed The bottles collected were extensively analysed not only with regard to their origin, contents, volume and weight, but also with regard to factors such as defects, type of closure, leak-proof performance, preform manufacturer, and others. Different types of bottles (left to right): USA, France, Germany, South Africa, Egypt and Thailand. z oo m