PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2018

BOTTLING / FILLING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 03/18 www.petpla.net 24 Super-light solutions Partner for sustainable packaging With the new Sacmi Heroline, manufacturers can make lighter, higher-performing containers while lowering raw material costs, optimising consumption and enhancing logistical efficiency. The super-light solutions are in the pipeline, starting with the most dynamic market, bottled water. Filling Special Every minute, the world manufac- tures and sells over a million drinking water bottles, most of which will be used for still mineral water. Euromon- itor forecasts that, by 2021, output will increase to over 580 billion bot- tles a year, a further 20% increase in what has, in recent years, been one of the fastest-growing segments of the global packaging industry. Sacmi has responded to this chal- lenge with Heroline; this complete, integrated solution for making lighter, higher-performing bottles provides net savings on raw materials while optimising energy consumption and boosting the logistical efficiency of the entire process. Thanks to a lot of experience with food-grade plastics and accompany- ing R&D facilities, Sacmi has devel- oped extremely light, high performing containers. These range from the 200ml Hero bottle with Exalite 26-22 cap (total weight 5.8g, of which 1.9g are accounted for by the neck) to the 500 and 600ml formats (total weight 8.4 and 9.9g respectively) and the lightweight solutions that minimise PET requirements. While extremely light, the 200ml Sacmi bottle can withstand, once filled and capped, a peak load of over 230 Newtons, paving the way for further solutions (already being tested at Sacmi’s labs) on the standard 25-22 neck to lighten the bottle by at least another gram without affecting performance. The exclusive technology that goes into Heroline - the dimensional and manufacturing layout of which can be modulated to meet customer- specific needs - includes CCM and IPS. These cap and preform manu- facturing solutions can be integrated upstream from bottling thanks to CPB Link, the automatic Sacmi-built magazine that synchronises the two processes to smooth logistics. Thanks to individual elements designed to operate as stand-alone solutions as part of a coordinated system, Sacmi provides added value through overall functional optimisation. It does so by integrating blowing (SBF), filling and labelling downstream from the cap and preform magazine; those phases can be merged on the new all-in-one Heroblock, the new uniquely versa- tile, compact Sacmi ‘quadblock’ that is ideal for medium output rates. Each Heroline phase is aided by advanced Sacmi in-line quality control solutions. Moreover, downstream sections can incorporate innovative Colora Cap digital cap decoration units and D-Match, Sacmi’s latest digital labelling solution. The latter has been designed to ensure versatility of use and maximum personalisation but without the plant complexity that stems from digital printing on pre- labelled containers. Optimised energy and fluid con- sumption, a high reduction in internal logistics costs (pallets, octabins and relative maintenance) and less stor- age space are some of the advan- tages provided by Sacmi Heroline. The latter offers excellent hygiene standards (an offshoot of fewer han- dling tasks and a direct consequence of the special storage magazine con- figuration where caps and preforms are kept in a controlled, positive-pres- sure atmosphere). Manufacturers can move from a set of high-performing stand-alone machines towards a complete system that integrates the process and gen- erates three types of enhancement: energy, logistical and reduced PET consumption. www.sacmi.it