Sidel has unveiled its StarLITE-R STILL bottle base aiming to ensure reduced blowing pressure, 100% recycled PET (rPET) integration and high-speed production for water, juices, milk, and edible oil from 0.25L up to 2.5L.
Sidel says the StarLITE-R STILL bottle base features its patented technology which includes smooth material stretching and precise distribution; optimized venting for easy shaping; and an efficient base cooling circuit ideal for rPET, which is likely to be processed at higher temperatures.
Apparently, the bottle production process can use up to 20% less blowing pressure due to the grooves and venting holes in the mould, allowing air to escape efficiently and reducing energy consumption and production costs while maintaining quality. Sidel states the base can also be blown at lower pressure with a reported reduction of up to 20% on standard air blowing operations, translating to a saving of 51 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
The new design can be ‘seamlessly retrofitted’ onto existing production lines and aims to ensure the base does not deform or break to maintain the bottle’s integrity during production, conveying, storage, transportation, and use. Sidel adds that the new base performs reliably during high-speed production due to an efficient cooling process.
According to Sidel, the new base supports single-serve production rates of up to 2,700 bottles per hour per machine and multi-serve rates of up to 2,400 bottles per hour per machine. The StarLITE-R STILL can also be used with virgin PET as well as rPET and be produced utilizing Sidel’s EvoBLOW, Universal, and Series 2 blow moulders.
In November 2024, the company launched its new bottle washer with combined chemical and ultrasound technology, aiming to reduce water, steam consumption and CO2 emissions. The washer is said to reduce washing time and the temperature required while improving the machine’s performance.
More recently, DePoly and Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI) have produced a ‘closed-loop’ recycled PET bottle suitable for food contact and long-term storage, sourced from ‘virgin-grade’ purified terephthalic acid (PTA) monomers from PET and polyester in a mixed feedstock stream. The monomers are rebuilt into PET pellets which undergo injection stretch blow moulding to become recycled PET bottles.
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