BOTTLE MAKING 14 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net 100% rPET bottle for carbonated soft drinks To help carbonated soft drink (CSD) packaging producers embrace material circularity, Sidel has launched Starlite R – a 100% rPET bottle. Sidel’s signature Starlite family is evolving to address the challenges associated with working with recycled content. Sidel has launched a 100% rPET bottle for carbonated soft drink (CSD) packaging. Starlite R has been designed to allow CSD producers to switch to rPET bottle production with ease and efficiency, while reducing the impact on product quality or packaging integrity. Sidel’s more than 45 years of experience in the blowing and PET packaging sector, and its understanding of rPET resin characteristics and its impact went into the bottle’s development. Mr Laurent Naveau, Packaging Innovator Leader at Sidel, comments on the challenge rPET resin can present the packaging industry: “The characteristics of rPET are impacted by several factors. Firstly, by seasonality. Consumption habits fluctuate over the course of the year impacting the product category mix. And secondly, by different PET collection models which means that post-consumer PET material bales will vary from region-to-region and even country-to-country. The recycling process and equipment used will also influence PET resin. All these factors can pose new challenges for manufacturers looking to produce bottles with rPET content.” In addition to common CSD bottle manufacturing challenges such as stress cracking, roll out and bursting during blowing, a higher temperature is also required to process rPET. Consequently, packaging manufacturers can experience reduced control over rPET material stretching and distribution of the substance in the bottlemaking process. Traditionally, greater variability in rPET resin leads to a narrower process window and lower bottle quality. Sidel’s Starlite R base uses new technologies to ensure efficient rPET bottle production by restoring a much wider process window. Accoring to Sidel, the Starlite R design is easy to blow as it can be done within a wider range of parameter settings on the blower achieving a higher quality bottle. High performance rPET bottle base To achieve a high performing rPET bottle base, Starlite features an optimised mould base profile and uses a new stretch rod end design. Sidel says that the new mould base profile allows for good material distribution through advanced stretching and a high base clearance for optimum stability. The advanced stretch rod end design has improved the preform endcap material stretching and ensures accurate injection gate centering on the bottle. A sophisticated combination of grooves and venting holes allows for high-precision base feet formation, according to the company. The new bottle solution utilises dual external and internal bottle base cooling to ensure a perfect shape. Externally, the process uses a mould base cooling circuit that focuses on the warmer bottle base zones and internally a hollow-stretch rod requiring no additional air supply is used. According to Laurent Naveau, Sidel’s new design bottle base achieves greater protection against deformation, increased resistance to bursting and optimum stability, while guaranteeing product quality. Seamless transition The new bottle can be installed on existing production lines and adapted to fit current bottle designs. The solution is compatible with Sidel’s blow moulders, Evoblow, Universal and Series 2 and is claimed to be suitable for high-speed productions. Carbon footprint reduction Lifecycle analysis shows that PET has the best carbon footprint of all the packaging materials currently available and is the only food-grade, bottle-to-bottle plastic resin. Achieving full circularity at scale will make PET an even more sustainable choice since rPET reduces environmental impact up to four times more than virgin material. www.sidel.com
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