PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2010

BOTTLING / FILLING 53 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 10/10 www.petpla.net centres by a fleet of 15,000 trucks. The production operation is made up of 13 lines, including four for filling beverage cartons, one glass line for juices, a five-gallon PET water line, a five-litre PET water line, two lines for filling syrup in glass and metal bot- tles, one PET line each for soft drinks and water, plus two aseptic lines from Krones. Total production in 2010 is expected to reach around 100 million beverage cartons, 200 million PET containers and 20 million glass and metal bottles. Need for increased capacity Antartic’s first Krones PET-Asept line is rated at 12,000 2l PET bph, or 35 million fills a year, and is used for bottling ice tea and fruit-juice bever- ages. Juice filling was not the initial intention but the introduction of one- litre juice bottles was well received by consumers and, by 2006, the asepti- cally-bottled range included 4 million of these packages. Demand continued to rise, both within the Intermarché brands and more widely. As one very few aseptic PET bottling lines in France at that time, Antartic was able to contract-bottle third-party dealer’s juice brands as well. By 2008 the existing line had reached its capac- ity limits, so the company decided to commission a second aseptic line as soon as possible. Increased capacity, greater flexibility In order to make room for the new line (and to reflect changing market preferences) Antartic closed down an existing glass line, which was right next to the first aseptic line. The second line is specified for nearly double the first’s output - 60 million bpa, compared with 35 million, and provides Antartic with an option for distributing container sizes between the two. Perhaps paradoxically, the ‘small’ line fills the large containers (1.5l and 2.0l), and the ‘large’ line handles the smaller 200ml and 1l formats. The smaller, single-serve units had previously been packaged in glass; they, in particular, are seeing significant growth, thanks to migration of consumer behaviour patterns. The For the new line, Krones also supplied the AquaAsept sterile-water treatment unit and the VarioDos hygiene centre.