PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2015

PET products 40 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 07+08/15 www.petpla.net Aproz Source Minérale selects Bericap PCO 1881 flip-top closure for syrup market Swiss company Aproz Source Minérale has converted its bottles for mineral water and carbonated soft drinks to the PCO 1881 neck. It has also moved to use it for its syrup product and now operates with a single neck finish across its range of products. It was able to make the move after Bericap’s development of its HC EV 28/27 clo- sure. The Bericap system can be pressed onto the PCO 1881 neck and retains essential functional features of the closure, including product integrity ensured by a tear-off membrane and non-drip pouring lip. The one-piece hinge closure is supplied with a non-slit interbead band, which means that the closure cannot be removed from the bot- tles without being destroyed. The new hinge cap is in addition to Bericap’s EV 28/26 press-on closure, which, in contrast to the new HC EV 28/27, has a screw open- ing. Bericap says that Aproz’ conversion to the PCO 1881 short neck and the related press-on closure also delivered some resin savings. www.bericap.com Quiet, compact Herbold Mecksheim granulator supplied to French min- eral water producer Herbold Mecksheim GmbH, of Mecksheim, Germany, has recently delivered a Herbold C-Series granulator to a French mineral water producer. The unit, which features a compact design and has been customised with inte- grated sound insulation, handles waste and scrap from PET bottles and preforms. The scrap components are collected in contain- ers that are emptied onto a sorting table upstream of a conveyor belt. The table is equipped with sorting cavi- ties for the evacuation of foreign bodies such as small screws, wooden pieces and other other extraneous materials. The bottles and preforms are forwarded to the conveyor belt by the operator. The belt has been spe- cially designed with a short and steep profile because of constricted space on the site and enables dosed feeding of the granulator, which features stainless-steel product- touching components. An integrated metal detector immediately stops the feeding belt if it detects any metal items, including stainless steel and non-magnetic metals, in the feeding material. The Herbold SML 45/70 granulator utilises double cross cutting geometry. The rotor and stator knife are mounted at inclined angles opposed to each other; the company claims that the arrangement minimises dust and noise. The 37kW drive can process 1500 – 2000 kg/h of PET preforms. The outboard rotor bearings are completely separate from the grinding chamber in order to prevent grease coming into contact with the product and to ensure that no fines from the grinding material can destroy the bearings. Regrind is evacuated by the suction unit, freed from dust and can be reused for the produc- tion of new bottles. The screen and the upper part of the housing are designed to be easily opened for access, while the knives can be externally adjusted in a jig sup- plied with the machine. www.herbold.com