Amcor Packaging Giant Launches Smooth, Ribbed PowerFlex PET Hot Fill Bottle

The emergence of a new type of plastic infusion technology has made it possible for many companies to package hot-filled products in plastic containers with smooth side walls instead of conventional plastic containers with ribbed side walls.

According to the manufacturer of a new (PET) container developed by Amcor, plastic bottles previously used for hot filling require rough ribs or the like on the side of the container walls to absorb the side that occurs when the beverage is cooled to room temperature. Wall deformation,

According to Amcor, PowerFlex bottles can be run on existing glass filling lines without any changes or minor modifications.

One of the major trends in the beverage packaging industry is the replacement of glass bottles with PET containers. According to AMI Research's estimates, the standard beverage bottle market will increase by 6.2% annually by 2009. At the same time, due to the development of sports beverages, the market for customized beverage bottle caps will increase by approximately 12%.

Last year, about 158 ​​billion plastic caps were produced on the Western European market, accounting for about 40% of all caps. Of these, 66% of plastic caps are used for beverages.

Amcor said that Tradewinds Tea will be the first company to use Amcor's PowerFlex PET bottles this week.

"The PowerFlex is the first truly ribbed hot-filled PET bottle. It has the same aesthetics, performance and feel as glass - long-awaited in the beverage market such as Tradewinds," said Amcor.

Amcor has designed a special base that absorbs the space created by the cooling liquid and developed the PowerFlex bottle. The base diaphragm pulls upward when the liquid cools. When space occurs, the inverted pyramid-shaped diaphragm deflects upwards, absorbing any deformation that may affect the wall of the bottle.

Christy Lichtendahl, marketing manager for Tradewinds Beverages, said the company is reluctant to pack 16-ounce ready-to-drink (RTD) bottles in PET bottles. "We have been waiting for the arrival of a PET bottle that will maintain our existing glass-like look and feel," she said.

Tradewinds brews its own tea in its specially designed kettle and then fills the bottle with tea at temperatures between 180F and 185F.

The company used a glass bottle that was very similar to a beer bottle.

"As far as PET bottles are concerned, we have several design goals," Lichtendahl said. "The ability to replicate our Tradewinds logo on the bottle neck is very important to us. And the bottles need to have glossy panels so that we can utilize our existing pressure-sensitive tags."

Lichtendahl said that the company can use bottle pressure-sensitive labels and neck shrink marks on existing equipment at the same time without any modification. In order to change the filling section, the company changed a set of changing parts and added a second capper that can adapt to the new PET bottle caps.

Amcor PET is packaged in approximately 80 sites in 21 countries, including factories in the United Kingdom. The headquarters of Amcor Corporation is located in Australia.

Source: China Packaging Network