PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2014

BOTTLE MAKING 25 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 03/14 www.petpla.net Ressources It is usual in the USA for Coca- Cola bottlers to source their PET bottles or preforms from Southeast- ern Container or Western Con- tainer, depending on their location. Both companies were founded by a conglomerate of several Coca-Cola companies, with Western Container launched in 1979 and Southeastern Container in 1982. Western Con- tainer now has five production sites and Southeastern Container ten. CCNNE originated in 1977 when Japanese company Kirin Holdings bought shares in a small Coca-Cola bot- tling plant in New Hampshire. After a number of acquisitions, CCNNE is now fully owned by Kirin Holdings and part of its Overseas Beverages opera- tion. It is the largest independ- ent bottler of Coca-Cola in the USA. The company is also involved in the production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for the Japanese market, and pharmaceuticals and biochemical. CCNNE’s facility in Lon- donderry, NH, now produces 28 million crates (around 266 million litres) of alcohol- free beverages a year. It is currently the fifth-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the USA, producing the full range of the company’s products, which it sends to nine distribution cen- tres throughout New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Ver- mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut) and in the state of New York. The sales area covers about 85,000 square miles and is home to around 4.5 million people. About half of all sales are in low and zero-calorie soft drinks and water. Coca-Cola brand bever- ages are only filled into PET bottles (40%) and cans (60%); there are no glass contain- ers. The range of PET bottles includes the 300ml, 12, 16, 20 and 24-oz, and on to the 0.5, 1.0, 1.25 and 2l bottles. The 20-oz and 2l bottles are especially popular in the PET The InnoPET Blomax Series IV at CCNNE has 28 blow stations, each of which out- puts up to 2,250 PET bottles per hour. Its distinguishing features include savings in energy, compressed air and materials and the production of top-quality bottles.