DS Smith Plastics Bilzen has introduced Fillbee, a returnable pack that can fit inside reusable crates and can be stacked without a crate.
Image: DS Smith’s new Fillbee. Photo: Courtesy of DS Smith.
The UK-based packaging firm DS Smith stated that the latest product is part of its forward step in sustainable development of beverage packaging.
Fillbee is 100% reusable and 100% recyclable, was designed by the company’s design team in Bilzen, Belgium.
The returnable pack is the result of the team, which was challenged to take the concept to the next level by designing a solution to combine returnable crates with returnable packs.
Fillbee is a returnable four- or six-pack that can be designed for any shape of bottle. The pack can fit in beverage crates or can be stacked.
DS Smith stated that presently, returnable bottle crates are used with loose bottles or with one-way packs. Hence, breweries have to invest in two types of filling lines.
The new returnable pack can fit into regular returnable crates, so the bottles that can placed directly into the baskets on the existing filling line for loose bottles. This can simplify the complexity of the production line and can lower investments significantly.
The company claims that the shelf ready packaging can protect bottles and is easy to take home, easy to store and is also easy to return empty bottles to the store. The packaging is durable can be stacked when full. The bottom of the pack prevents direct pressure on the crowns of the bottles to avoid CO2 loss.
Furthermore, the large, recyclable in mould labelling (IML) labels allow for easy branding at point of sale (POS) and the application of barcodes to scan the products.
According to the company, waste prevention can be an efficient way to reduce CO2 emissions. This ‘mini crate’ has been designed to fit in a closed loop deposit scheme and it meets all the requirements to minimize environmental impact.
DS Smith designs and manufactures corrugated packaging and plastic packaging for consumer goods.