Nissei ASB Machine Co., Ltd. (Head office: Komoro-shi, Nagano-ken, Japan - President: Junichi Miyasaka), a world leading manufacturer of machines and molds for injection stretch blow molding of PET and other plastics, will demonstrate live molding of Returnable & Refillable PET Bottles at the Drinktec 2022 exhibition to be held in Munich, Germany from 12th to 16th September 2022.
Returnable & Refillable PET Bottles
Compared to their glass counterparts, Returnable & Refillable PET Bottles are typically 90% lighter, with a 30% lower carbon footprint.
Compared to single use PET bottles, Returnable & Refillable PET Bottles weigh around twice as much, yet as a result of their reusability, they only consume around 8-10% of the PET material of equivalent single use bottles throughout their lifetime, which may extend up to 6 years considering a typical 3-month re-use cycle.
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HSB-4N Double Blow Heat-Set Reheat Stretch Blow Molding Machine from Nissei ASB |
At Drinktec 2022, using its well-established Double Blow Heat-Set Process via its HSB Series Reheat Stretch Blow Molding machines, Nissei ASB will demonstrate live molding of a Returnable & Refillable PET Bottle on an HSB-4N machine that surpasses current industry standards in all respects;
• 1 Liter Sparkling Water with 1.5 gas vol. (design compatible with popular German industry standard for sparkling water)
• Weight: 53 grams (current industry standard 62 grams)
• Reuse Cycles: Greater than 25 times (current industry practice “up to 25 times”)
• RPET Content: Up to 30% without reduction in performance (in laboratory testing ASB’s R&R bottles with 30% RPET actually achieved in excess of 30 times washing and pressurization cycles)
In a typical production scenario, a single HSB-4N machine will produce up to 20 million Returnable & Refillable PET Bottles per year, and with each bottle having a lifetime of more than 25 cycles, this represents the equivalent of at least 500 million single use bottles.
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These early Returnable & Refillable PET Bottles, molded by ASB machines and introduced to the German market in 1989 illustrate ASB’s long experience with the process |
At end of life, Refillable PET Bottles are bottle-to-bottle recyclable or can be converted into other new products. Even when molded with 100% virgin PET, the Refillable bottle already has a lower carbon footprint compared to a single use bottle, but the ability to absorb 30% of recycled materials without any impact to performance, the carbon footprint of the container is reduced by around an additional 25%.
ASB is no stranger to the Returnable & Refillable PET Bottle market. Working with a famous brand filling company, Nissei ASB developed and launched the first Returnable & Refillable PET Bottles for juices and soft drinks in the German market during the country’s first “green wave” way back in 1989. Shortly thereafter, ASB went on to supply similar systems to multiple companies in around 20 countries throughout the 1990s.
Now, with the resurgence in interest and public demand for refillable packaging, not only in Germany but also globally, ASB is well placed to take advantage by utilizing its broad packaging expertise as well as its capable molding equipment. The Double Blow Heat-Set process that is the main feature of the HSB Series machines, gives the ASB bottle significant advantages over other molding methods. The result is higher crystallinity (density) of the material together with less stress in the molded bottle that combine to give improved thermal stability and greater resistance to environmental stress cracking, thus ensuring higher reusability rates at lighter weight.
Additional Information
The HSB-4N machine will be displayed at Drinktec 2022 with a full line of matched molding ancillary equipment that the company is able to supply, such as perform unscrambler, compressors and mold temperature controllers.
ASB’s booth will also be exhibiting an exciting range of developments and packaging technologies including; Zero Cooling, heat resistant PET containers, bag-in-box, canted/tilted neck bottles, HDPE bottles by ISBM, thick wall / base cosmetic bottles, etc.
