PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2015

ON SITE 41 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 07+08 Sidel helps world’s largest distillery to 18% energy savings ON site 1RZ /DQIUDQFKL LV DEOH WR VXSSRUW LWV FXVWRPHUV ZLWK D FRPSOHWH UDQJH RI /LQHDU EORZ PRXOGLQJ PDFKLQHV IRU 3(7 FRQWDLQHUV IURP OW WR OW 3RVVLELOLW\ RI VXSSO\LQJ ERWWOH DQG SUHIRUP GUDZLQJV WR WKH FRVWXPHUV /LQHDU EORZ PRXOGLQJ PDFKLQH UDQJH JRHV IURP FDYLW\ XS WR FDYLWLHV IRU DQ\ NLQG RI ERWWOH LQ WHUPV RI VKDSH DQG GHVLJQ /LQHDU EORZ PRXOGLQJ PDFKLQHV DUH GHVLJQHG HVSHFLDOO\ IRU ELJ FRQWDLQHUV VSHFLDO VKDSH ERWWOHV DQG ZLGH PRXWK FRQWDLQHUV A line improvement programme undertaken by Sidel at Japan’s Kirin Distillery has helped the company to achieve a substantial saving in the use of electrical energy. Sidel carried out a modular upgrade of the production line and fitted its ECO lamps to the blow moulder on the water line at the distillery. The Kirin whisky distillery, located in the town of Gotemba at the foot of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, is claimed to be currently the largest distillery in the world. It was founded by a multi- national corporate collaboration in 1973, involving Seagrams of Canada, Chivas Brothers of Scotland, Four Roses Distill- ery of America and Japan’s Kirin Brewery Company. It came under the sole owner- ship of Kirin in 2002. The site was selected because it was felt that the town has a climate very similar to that of Scotland, the birthplace of whisky. With an average annual temperature of only 13°C, it is cooler and more humid than other parts of Japan, especially in summer. The Kirin Distillery, which is one of 10 whisky distiller- ies in Japan, takes its pro- duction water directly from underground streams flowing beneath the mountain. Un- usually, the facility undertakes every part of the production process on-site, from mash- ing to bottling. It extends to 520,000m 2 and has an annual production capacity of 12 million litres of four types of whiskies: one malt and three grain. In 1999 it recognised the complementary opportunities that the underground streams offered for marketing bottled water and installed a dedicated Sidel PET bottle blowing line. It is on this line that the latest modular upgrade has been completed. In 2013 total volume sales of bottled water in Japan grew by 4%, to 4.4bn litres. From 2013 to 2018, the total market for bottled water in the country is forecast to grow by a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 0.7% in value terms, with still bottled water increasing by 0.3% CAGR. The increas- ing environmental consciousness of consumers has led to sustainable packaging and the renewability of water sources becoming recognised as important factors in the bottled water market. ...continues on page 42