PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2018

BOTTLE MAKING 19 PET planet Insider Vol. 19 “Right from the first meeting it was obvious that R&D Leverage is really well versed in moulding PET and rPET in particular. They have exper- tise in making moulds that are really good quality and they were very help- ful in solving some of the problems we were having, especially with the rib feature,” McSorley explained. “There was still a lot of challenge in the radi- uses of the ribs. Some of them are quite small – 2.5mm or 3mm – and it was very important to get them right so that, when it was blow moulded, we would get the right detail and that it would look good. That was the result of a lot of collabora- tion with R&D Leverage.” The new Ecover bottle involved several changes from the previous package; in material, appearance and design, as well as the brand image and values that it seeks to convey. The whole process took around six months but the most intense piece was prob- ably the bottle’s ribs. They had to be right; they could not look too flat and to be a clear feature on the design, which would work well with the colours of the rPET, the clear liquid within, the label and the cap. “R&D Leverage was really helpful in getting from the idea to reality,” McSor- ley said. “We wanted to make sure there’s enough clear space on the bottle, so that it could be detected as transparent PET as easily as possible and to make it as easily recyclable as possible. At the same time, I wanted it to be at home in your kitchen rather than looking like a big fat eyesore, which those bot- tles often are. Those ribs are a nice way to bring some light and refraction to the top of the bottle. From our point of view, our expe- rience with R&D Leverage was a really solid collabora- tion.” www.ecover.com www.rdleverage.com 1 st Aseptic blower FDA certified in USA ABF 1.2 is the Aseptic Blow-Fill system featuring the very first sterile aseptic blower approved FDA. The GEA ABF 1.2, installed and successfully validated in the USA, obtained the FDA certificate for shelf-stable, low acid beverages produced and distributed in the USA. Thanks to ABF 1.2 each single step of the sterilization process is monitored, whilst the aseptic blower, housed inside a microbiological isolator, avoids any potential risk of recontamination. Another milestone for GEA 10 years after the first FDA certificate received for its PAA based sterilization system.