Italy-based packaging equipment manufacturer Sidel has introduced a new lightweight 500ml PET packaging solution, X-LITE Still, for non-pressurised still water.
Image: The Sidel’s new 500 ml PET packaging solution. Photo: courtesy of Sidel.
Claimed to be the world’s lightest industrial bottle at the highest production speed, the X-LITE Still is believed to be the most cost-effective and sustainable packaging available on the market.
The solution has been designed to address the still water market for small size PET bottles, especially for producers who are seeking optimised packaging with less production costs, Sidel said.
Sidel packaging expert Laurent Naveau said: “Based on a dedicated preform design for optimal mechanical performances, this latest addition to our packaging portfolio is able to withstand label application on the empty bottle, in spite of its extremely light weight.
“It allows for the ideal bottle shape design for nested packs and enables an optimum top load resistance of 34 kg, able to match the supply chain requirements in terms of pallet stability.”
With 6.5g of weight and a height of 195mm, the Sidel’s X-LITE Still offers the enhanced level of performance even at very high production speeds and features a very light water neck finish.
Optimised by the company’s engineers for the Sidel Super Combi, the Sidel X-LITE Still solution comprises a Novembal Novaqua RightCAP26 closure.
The Sidel Super Combi is a single smart solution, which integrates five process steps including preform feeding, blowing, labelling, filling/capping and cap feeding.
The firm said: “Sidel X-LITE Still integrates the proven StarLITE Still base solution, already implemented worldwide due to its increased stability and stress resistance through the value chain, its endless design flexibility and the clear lightweighting possibilities it offers.”
The sustainable packaging solution is also designed to reduce the PET resin consumption.
The new bottle can save 1,485 tonnes of PET per year while generating energy savings of up to 335,000kWh/year when compared to that of bottles weighing 12g.
Naveau added: “For our customers, the new preform design and neck finish featured by the X-LITE Still packaging solution translate to a very fast payback on their investment, even when the line retrofit includes a completely new injection stack.
“By switching from a 12 g PET bottle to the X-LITE Still 6.5 g bottle, the payback time for a line upgrade would only be between two to four months.”