StarLITE®R simplifies the transition for CSD producers towards efficient rPET bottle production while minimizing any adverse effects on product quality and packaging integrity.

Embracing 100% rPET:

With over 45 years of expertise in the blowing and PET packaging industry, Sidel has cultivated a profound understanding of recycled PET resin and its implications for bottle production. Laurent Naveau, Packaging Innovator Leader at Sidel, discusses the challenges posed by rPET resin within the packaging sector:

"The characteristics of rPET are influenced by various factors, including seasonality and different PET collection models, leading to variations in post-consumer PET material. Additionally, the recycling process and equipment utilized can impact PET resin, creating new challenges for manufacturers aiming to incorporate rPET content into their bottles."

In addition to typical challenges in CSD bottle manufacturing, such as stress cracking and bursting during blowing, rPET processing requires higher temperatures, which can reduce control over material stretching and distribution during bottle creation. Traditionally, increased variability in rPET resin results in a narrower process window and lower bottle quality.

However, Sidel's innovative base, StarLITE®R, employs advanced technologies to facilitate efficient rPET bottle production by widening the process window. The StarLITE®R design simplifies the blowing process, allowing it to operate within a broader range of parameter settings, ultimately yielding higher-quality bottles.

High-Performance rPET Bottle Base:

To achieve a high-performing rPET bottle base, StarLITE®R incorporates an optimized mould base profile and an advanced stretch rod end design.

The new mould base profile ensures ideal material distribution through advanced stretching and provides ample base clearance for maximum stability. The advanced stretch rod end design enhances preform end-cap material stretching and ensures precise injection gate centering on the bottle. Furthermore, the combination of grooves and venting holes enables precise formation of the base feet.

The innovative bottle solution also employs both external and internal bottle base cooling to maintain an impeccable shape. Externally, a mould base cooling circuit focuses on the warmer bottle base zones, while internally, a hollow-stretch rod that requires no additional air supply is employed.

Laurent Naveau comments, "StarLITE®R is designed to empower carbonated soft drink manufacturers to adopt rPET. Sidel's new bottle base design provides superior protection against deformation, increased burst resistance, and optimum stability, all while ensuring product quality."

Seamless Transition:

Leveraging Sidel's expertise, the new bottle can be effortlessly integrated into existing production lines and adapted to accommodate current bottle designs. The solution is compatible with Sidel's renowned blow moulders, EvoBLOW, Universal, and Series 2, making it suitable for high-speed production.

Carbon Footprint Reduction:

Lifecycle analysis reveals that PET already boasts the most favorable carbon footprint among currently available packaging materials and is the sole food-grade, bottle-to-bottle plastic resin. Achieving comprehensive circularity at scale further enhances PET's sustainability, as rPET reduces environmental impact up to four times more than virgin material.

Source:sidel.com

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