Sidel is helping beverage producers to maximise cost efficiency while simultaneously improving sustainability with eco booster™, a service suitably developed for customers already operating sidel blow

08/02/2017

ECO Booster, part of the Sidel Services™ portfolio, canprovide measurable savings by reducing the consumption ofmaterials, electricity and compressed air.

"By keeping the use of PET material to an absolute minimum anddoing the same with consumption of electrical power and compressedair, Sidel can help beverage producers to make significant savings,minimise running costs and achieve a very fast return on investment(ROI)," explains Samuel Le Guen, Global Maintenance and LineImprovement Director at Sidel. "When it comes to energy efficiency,the blower often offers the biggest opportunity for improvement,accounting for up to 70% of the total line power consumption," headds. "In recognising this, we have leveraged Sidel's extensiveexperience in blow moulding technology to develop our comprehensiveECO Booster service."

Improved monitoring and greater awareness

The ECOBooster portfolio comprises five modules. The recommendedstarting point is the ECO Audit performed on the customer's blowerto analyse production conditions and energy consumption. The ECOAudit provides clients with a customised report including anoutline of potential gains and predicted cost savings inelectricity, heating and air consumption costs.

Upgrades to reduce consumption

The ECO Process module provides carefully calculated adjustmentsand process improvements proposing specific upgrades. The ECOHeating module involves the optimisation of the heating profilewith less installed power: available options like the ECO Oven, ECOLamps and ECO Oven Top Reflectors optimise the blower heatingperformance to achieve up to 45% electrical consumption reduction.Additionally, the ECO Air module reduces the electricityconsumption through the installation of an Air Recovery Kit,leveraging on re-use of up to 40% compressed air duringproduction.

Lightweight design with heavyweightperformance

While reducing the consumption of both electricity andcompressed air during the blowing process, Sidel's expertise inoptimising the bottle design can also bring its own benefits. TheECO Packaging solutions enable producers to transform the shape oftheir packaging while improving its appeal, performance and safety.With more than 35 years of experience in PET packaging, Sidel canassist beverage customers in achieving more from the productionprocess by reducing the use of PET resin. By saving just one gramon a 0.5 litre PET bottle, overall savings of EUR 350,000[1] per year can be generated. One step in makingthese savings in PET bottle production is the reduction of the neckheight. Soft drinks bottles can have neck heights reduced to aslittle as only 12 millimetres high.

Two packaging innovations can easily demonstrate the company'sability to solve the dilemma between lightweight PET design and theneed to protect the brand experience in the hands of consumers, allwithout compromising on production costs. Bottles designedfollowing the Sidel RightWeight™ concept can offer improvedperformance and reductions in material costs, while theimplementation of the Sidel StarLite™ base in PET bottles willenable a reduction in air blowing pressure, yet increase theresistance of the base and stability of the bottle.

Weighing just 7.95 grams, the RightWeight 0.5 litre conceptbottle is around 34% lighter than the average commercial bottle forstill water and demonstrates an impressive top load performance of33[2] kilograms - 32% more resistant than the lightestcommercial bottle. Not less important, the RightWeight bottleachieves this rigidity without the use of nitrogen dosing, againminimising costs. Utilising two proprietary PET design innovations,the Sidel StarLite PET bottle base for still drinks has a uniqueshape that makes the bottom of the container significantly moreresistant and stable. Additionally, it offers better protectionagainst extreme temperatures (hot and cold) while reducing energyconsumption during production, lowering package weight andimproving design flexibility - all without compromising on bottleintegrity or product safety.

Expertise enables optimisation

Having more than 50 years of experience in blowing, Sidel isable to identify exactly which parts should be replaced and whichupgrades would prove most effective in each particular case. As theagreed plan of ECO Booster actions is being implemented,consumption monitoring and process control tools can also be put inplace, as well as additional laboratory tests or production-controlequipment. Finally, when the servicing is completed and accepted bythe customer, a sticker is placed on the machine indicating that ithas passed the eco-efficiency test. This has the added, valuablebenefit of promoting eco-awareness among the operators at thecustomer's plant.

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