KHS has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first recyclable juice bottle made of 100 per cent recycled PET.
The Beyond Juice bottle, at a production of 50 million bottles per year, could save more than 1500 tonnes of raw material in the form of new PET, says Philipp Langhammer, product manager for barrier technology at KHS Corpoplast.
“With Beyond Juice we’re providing concrete answers to the challenges of the beverage industry, taking the juice bottle as an example. Also in view of the current debate on plastics, practical, environmentally-friendly systems are becoming more and more important,” he said.
According to Langhammer, an integral and sustainable packaging is needed – one which is also suitable for the entire sensitive-beverage spectrum.
“When developing the bottle we thus strictly adhered to our credo of environmental protection, recyclability, and maximum product protection,” he said.
The Beyond Juice bottle is the first to score a full 20 out of 20 points for environmental service provider Interseroh’s Made for Recycling seal, says packaging engineer Julian Thielen from Interseroh.
“Thanks to the seal on the label, for the first time consumers can now allow the bottle’s truly excellent recycling properties to help influence their decision to buy when standing in front of the supermarket shelf.
“In the medium term, for packaging the criterion of recyclability will additionally become just as important as the aspects of product protection, convenience and attractiveness – also on an international scale,” he said.
The FreshSafe PET used by KHS aided its recyclability, added Thielen.
“Alternative composite materials used as a barrier also often colour the recyclate and yield an inferior quality,” he said.
