PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2020

BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 04/20 www.petpla.net 29 projects we’ve been able to prove that KHS offers excellent water bottling systems in the low-capacity range.” All capacity levels are now in demand in Africa and most water bottling sys- tems are sold in the KHS Middle East/ Africa Market Zone managed by exec- utive vice-president Markus Auinger. The Innofill PET NV water filler is the first machine designed for still water that Coca-Cola Bever- ages Africa in Uganda has acquired. KHS has also implemented a PET line for carbonated Coca-Cola soft drinks installed in Mbarara in 2015 in Uganda. “Our experience with KHS has been very good. We know that we can rely on short delivery times, fast installation and commissioning and the expert support and flexibility of the KHS team,” explains Edward Ojede, project manager at CCBA in Uganda. Expertise in bottles Important was the support pro- vided by the KHS experts in the company’s Bottles & Shapes program who contribute their expertise in the development and optimisation of bot- tles. Their consultancy service pro- duces PET bottles which have been optimised in terms of both ecology and economy and boast line suitabil- ity; every time in compliance with the customer’s design concepts. Although the line was officially commissioned in May 2019 by the president of Uganda, represented by the minister of trade, industry and cooperatives, production has been running since the beginning of the year – and very smoothly at that. The performance figures of the new system have even exceeded CCBA’s high expectations. “We’re achieving a line efficiency of 98%,” says Conrad van Niekerk happily, managing direc- tor of CCBA Uganda. “And Rwenzori’s water bottling line operates around the clock, seven days a week. The performance fig- ures of this line and those from Mbarara are the best in the entire group.” The expanded capacity is already reach- ing its limits, the key factor in CCBA’s output is the availability of water which is a limited and therefore pre- cious resource in Uganda. In addition to efficiency, the subject of sustainability is becoming increasingly important not only for bever- age producers in Uganda but for the rest of Africa as well. CCBA can score here, too: under the motto of ‘a world without waste’ CCBA wants to help ensure that by 2030 100% of all PET bottles sold are collected and recycled. Plastic Recy- cling Industries, a recycling initiative owned by CCBA and founded specifi- cally for this purpose, buys collected PET bottles from consumers and then reintroduces them to the recovered materials cycle. If many more com- panies follow this example and are thus able to stem climate change, the glaciers of the Rwenzori Mountains will retain their beauty for a long time to come. www.khs.com The Innofill PET NV blocked with a stretch blow moulder is the first filler for still water that CCBA has procured in Uganda. Satisfied with the results of their team- work: Edward Ojede (left) and Innocent Obong, both from CCBA, on either side of KHS key account service manager Dilesh Karia. Paper labels are glued and brushed onto Rwenzori’s bottles on a KHS Innoket Neo labeller. Bekum Maschinenfabriken GmbH Phone: +49 (0)30 7490-0 • sales@bekum.com • www.bekum.com