PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2018

COMPRESSORS PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 09/18 www.petpla.net 24 “When you live high up you can see for miles” Is not just an old farmer’s saying, it also describes the company philosophy of Alberto Bertone, owner of the Sant’Anna bottled water producer in Vinadio, Italy, which has springs up to 2,000metres above sea level. For him, this means looking far into the future: total sustainability. While “sustainability” is often used by many as a marketing term, you can experience sustainability for real at Sant’Anna. It begins with small things in the factory. For example, all lamps are powered using energy-saving LED technology. However, sustainability is also evident on a larger scale as Alberto has had new halls built out of wood. As he says “For me, wood is a sustainable building material – more maintenance-intensive than concrete, as well as being a natural building material”. With an annual production capac- ity of 3.5 billion bottles on 18 bottling lines, Sant’Anna is one of the world’s largest bottling plants. Transport within the facility is undertaken by 40 automated laser-guided carts. Trucks arrive at the plant by the minute and transport 11,000 pallets a day to the nearest railway station. This is sus- tainability in action because rail is more sustainable than truck transport, says Marco Balbiano, member of Sant’Anna’s Innovation Team. Looking far into the future, Bertone is putting his faith in PLA bottles. PLA (polylactic acid) is a material defined as sustainable because it is produced from renewable resources, through processes of corn fermenta- tion, separation and polymerisation and degrades in the soil in about 12 weeks. His innovation team has been working on the roll-out for over ten years. What sounded simple at the outset has become more compli- cated as the project has progressed. “We have had to rethink the whole process”, says Dario Ferrero, Sant’Anna’s Plant Manager. Lower temperatures, blowing pressures, handling of material – everything had to be tested. Through lower tempera- tures and pressures, the plant is able to save 60-70% of energy used in production – an aspect of sustainabil- ity which is often overlooked with PLA bottles. Meanwhile, they are proud to be the first and only plant in Italy to have a significant bottling line based on a compostable PLA bottle. They are also currently working on pro- ducing labels and caps using com- postable materials. This means that the consumer will be able to dispose of the whole bottle through compost waste with a clear conscience and not have to separate both label and lid as they have previously. Sustainability is not just about natural building materials and degra- dable PLA bottles – it also means making meaningful energy savings. One of the biggest energy guzzlers during the stretch-blow moulding and PET bottle filling process is undoubt- edly the production of blowing air. In order to keep the required amount as little as possible, the stretch-blow moulding machines operate using compressed air recirculation. This COMPRESSORS Alberto Bertone (left), owner of Sant’Anna bottled water, and Marco Bassi, Siad Macchine Impianti Compressors Div. Food & Beverage Key Account / Italian Sales Sant’Anna replaced the old systems with six Vito compressors of different sizes from Siad Macchine Impianti, enjoying now energy savings of up to 30%. by Alexander Büchler