PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2016

BOTTLE MAKING 10 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 07+08/16 www.petpla.net 14g PET bottle for edible oil Sidel has collaborated with Algar Agro to produce the lightest 900ml PET bottle for edible oil. A large player in the Brazilian market, Algar Agro worked with Sidel to reduce the total weight of its finished bottle from 18 to 14g, a reduction of 22%. The bottle was redesigned without any obvious changes to the cus- tomer in its well-established external appearance. By using the lightweight- ing expertise of Sidel, Algar Agro was able to achieve the significant saving in weight and in raw material used. It has a substantial impact in minimis- ing the cost to produce, package and transport the finished product, along with lowering the total cost of owner- ship (TCO) of the production equip- ment itself. Proposals for the bottle’s packag- ing optimisation were put together by Sidel, who carried out feasibility tests for the new design at its Packag- ing & Tooling Centre in Guadalajara, Mexico. Sidel was chosen over the competition because of its experience and expertise, as well as the actual proposals presented to Algar Agro during initial discussions to lightweight the bottle. Edney Valente Lima Filho, Project Manager with Algar Agro, explained: “We put together the best industry suppliers and this is reflected in the project results. The success of Sidel was assured by the know-how demonstrated during the negotiation to propose and ensure the new bottle for vegetable oil - the lightest in the world.” With the acquisition of two Sidel Matrix blowers, one at each of its production plants, Algar Agro believes it is the first oil producer in Brazil with integrated injection and blowing in its PET production process. The Sidel machines were installed in bottling lines producing 25,000 PET bottles of vegetable oil per hour. The installation