PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2021

BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 04/21 www.petpla.net 25 High-speed line reduces costs The aim is to run the line 24/7 and to consistently achieve 90-95% efficiency with the same number of operators a slower line would require. “Margins on bottled water are very narrow. That makes it all the more important to control cost with a high- speed line like this. Of course, when we’re looking at investing in a new line, we look at all the options. But it makes sense to use the same tech- nologies in all of our plants,” says Howe. “Once you know and under- stand Krones’ machines, you won’t want anything else.” The Krones Academy supports the line ramp-up phase with specialised training to continuously improve line efficiency. Ice River Springs also has a service contract with Krones. The twin line handles 500ml con- tainers exclusively. Ice River Springs developed the bottle in house fol- lowing a “function over aesthetic” principle. “It just has to do its job as a container for water – although we still think it looks beautiful,” says Howe. From farmers to water bottlers You might say Crystal Howe’s loyalty to Ice River Springs has been instilled in her from birth. After all, she’s not only the company’s Sustain- ability Manager but also the daughter of Ice River Springs’ founders and owners, Jamie and Sandy Gott. Her parents started out as farmers, rais- ing chickens and trout in Feversham, two hours’ drive north of Toronto. The natural spring they used as a water source for the trout farm provided a supply of high-quality water, which Jamie and Sandy initially sold in bulk to water bottlers. At some point, they began bottling the water themselves on a small scale, in large HDPE containers. Soon after that, Y2K loomed and an apocalyptic mood set in, driven largely by the media especially in North America. People feared that all computer systems would stop working on January 1, 2000. So they started stockpiling emergency supplies, including bottled water. Demand for Ice River Springs water exploded. “My dad had the vision, and mom helped make them happen,” says Howe. They built one bottling plant after another, at first only in Canada and later in the US as well. Howe explains that Ice River Springs sold off four of its US plants in 2018, “because the market there works differently than in Canada.” The company still maintains a facility in Miami, Florida, in addition to its six plants across Canada – all of which are in close proximity to con- sumers to minimise transport distances. www.krones.com www.icerivergreenbottleco.com The short-neck bottles weigh only 8.5 g each, another important environ- mental criterion. “But we don’t want to reduce the weight any more than that since it would make it harder to sepa- rate the caps from the bottles in the recycling process.” Clear and trans- parent blue, purple, and yellow post- consumer PET plastic can be used to produce Ice River Spring’s blue bottles. Green plastic can’t be used in this bottle. Since green PET plastic makes up about 5% of the incoming recycling stream, Jamie Gott devised an alternative use for it instead of downcycling: Following their own ideal of sustainability, the company now produces a green 100% rPET bottle that it uses for its own Ice River Springs brand. The company will now begin marketing the green bottle more heavily in Canada under the name Ice River Green Bottle Co. German Technology Innovative hotrunner optiRun