PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2015

ON site 46 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 09/15 www.petpla.net ABF technology to Amul Dairy in India GEA aseptic blowing-filling (ABF) technology has been installed at Amul Dairy in India. GEA had previously sup- plied Amul with its first aseptic filling line for dairy products in PET bottles in India. That line improved productivity at the plant and changed the image of flavoured milk drinks, drink- ing yoghurt and milk shakes with young consumers in India. Amul Dairy in Gujarat has become somthing like a model producer for the Indian dairy industry. Its products are mar- keted under the popular Amul Kool and Amul Lassi brands. The possibilities offered by PET bottles pushed Amul to explore new flavours and products such as Amul Pro and Amul smoothies. PET bottles have made milk drinks fash- ionable and have allowed them to compete on equal terms with colas and other carbonated drinks on retail shelves. The ABF technology from GEA allows lighter-weight bot- tles to be used with complex designs that are not distorted during the sterilisation process. It takes a different approach to bottle blowing and filling by bringing both processes together in an aseptic environment. Instead of sterilising bottles after blowing, the system sterilises the preforms in an oven or with H 2 O 2 before blowing and keeps them in a sterile environment throughout the process. This process means that the bottle cannot be deformed by heat during the process and can, therefore, be lighter weight, further reducing PET consumption, allowing greater freedom in bottle design and reducing water consumption. This results in a lower total cost of ownership than traditional PAA sys- tems. Less space is needed because there are no air con- veyors, bottle sterilisation and rinsing carousels. “We were the first on the market with aseptic filling of milk products into PET bottles,” explained Mr. R S Sodhi, the Managing Director of Amul Dairy. “This allowed us to create a new market with young people in India for these drinks, increase our production and reduce our costs at the same time. The new ABF technology will keep us in our leading position and allow us to be even more creative with bottle design. I am very excited to see what the future holds for us.” The new ABF line is expected to be commissioned in the next few months. www.gea.com www.amul.com New stretch-blow unit for jars in the United Kingdom Esterform Packaging, headquarters in Tenbury Wells, England, produces an extensive range of PET preforms, bottles and jars for drinks, foods, household, garden and car-care applications. Last year it announced a significant increase in its preform production capacity, located at a second site in Leeds, and now it is extending finished container capacity, with the addition of a Sipa SFL 4/4 WM unit dedicated to the production of jars for food. The Sipa system, which was installed in March, will provide Esterform Packaging with significantly improved capability in high-volume two-stage production of PET food jars. Until now, most of the company’s jars were produced on lower-volume single-stage injection-stretch- blow moulding units, as well as on a two-stage unit from another supplier. PET Jar sales had significantly increased, which prompted the purchase of a second two stage jar blowing machine. The SFL 4/4 WM (wide mouth) will make 360ml jars with 63mm neck finishes. With four cavities, it is capa- ble of producing up to 6000 jars per hour. The complete system installed by Sipa also includes a set of blow moulds, a preform unscrambler, a “soft-drop” octabin pre- form dumper and an Air Recovery System for improved energy efficiency. “The customer told us that our preform unscrambler, preform infeed, oven, preform transfer system and blow- ing process are key improvements compared to their current line.” says Mauro Fibbia, Account Manager at Sipa. “The SFL 4/4 WM has a wider process window and a higher output than the current line, making the same jar from the same preform. Esterform appreciates the well thought-out design of our preform unscrambler as well.” www.esterform.com www.sipa.it