Thailand-based Arpanon Beverage has debuted a new 600ml PET bottle made by Sidel that weighs just 9g.
Developed for the Sendai bottled water brand, the bottle is said to be one of the lightest PET bottles in Arpanon’s 600ml water portfolio.
Made on Sidel’s 36,000 bottles per hour Combi line, the bottle is said to be 30 per cent lighter and uses 50 per cent less energy than its previous iteration.
According to Sidel, the challenge was to reduce bottle weight without compromising the strength required throughout filling, handling, and distribution operations.
Required performance maintained
This was reportedly overcome with a 25/22 neck PET bottle weighing 9g, developed without the need for nitrogen, while still achieving more than 30kg of top-load performance.
Sidel said the optimisation reduced bottle weight by approximately 30 per cent, from preform design through to bottle development and line optimisation, while maintaining the required performance.
In addition to bottle development, Sidel delivered a complete production solution through its 36,000bph Combi line, integrating blowing, filling and capping into a single compact system.
This was said to enable Arpanon to double production output while using only 25 per cent of its previous labour requirement.
Electricity consumption slashed
Furthermore, blowing pressure fell by approximately one-third, electricity consumption per unit halved, and production time also dropped by approximately 70 per cent, enabling faster and more efficient operations, Sidel added.
“Our objective was to create a bottle that would reduce material use while maintaining the performance required for efficient production and distribution,” said Pavares Kiatsuarpanon, Arpanon’s managing director.
“The final design delivered the combination of lightweighting, strength and operational efficiency we were looking for.”
“Achieving a 9g bottle with the required top-load performance demanded careful optimisation at every stage of development. By combining packaging expertise with line engineering, Sidel was able to support Arpanon in developing a solution that met Arpanon’s lightweighting objectives while supporting efficient full-scale production.”
