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ISSUE 04-05 / 2001 |
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| Bottling / Filling | BACK to contents |
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A lightweight heavyweight
Selters filling in PET for the consumer market
Selters mineral water company, part of the
Binding Group of Frankfurt, Germany, are now packaging their premium brand
mineral water for domestic consumers – in 0.5 and 1 litre PET bottles. The
PET bottle looks almost identical to the glass bottle used in the restaurant
trade, but has certain advantage which we as PET converts have grown to know
and love: they are lightweight and unbreakable. Let’s take a closer look at
the project.
The name Selters has almost become a generic term, and their mineral water
is very well established in the restaurant and gastronomy business. And now,
in order to reach end users - specially in the convenience sector - through
beverage distributors Selters has recently turned to PET. The idea of using
PET bottles first surfaced in the late 80s/early 90s, but initial plans were
ultimately put back into the drawer. When the question of “PET, Yes or No?”
was raised once more, and Selters didn’t really want to start all over again,
first thoughts were of refillable bottles. The plans for a big bottling hall
also date back to that time.
However, because the unique shape of the bottles meant that they couldn’t
be collected through the normal pool system and the costs of setting up to
handle refillable bottles are quite considerable, Selters finally decided
on the single trip option. Ten percent of the company’s bottles, glass and
PET, are now single trip.
Glass bottle formed the model
Above all Selters wanted to stick to the shape of their original glass bottle.
If we are going to use PET, they said, it must look like our well-established
and beloved glass original. This is where Schmalbach-Lubeca came into the
picture. The company took on the commission of designing and producing initial
samples of the new bottle. The Schmalbach-Lubeca engineers had a Selters bottle
thrust into their hand with the comment, “The PET bottle has got to look as
much like this as possible, so get on with it”. Schmalbach-Lubeca did get
on with it; Selters were delighted and decided to go with PET.
The switch to PET meant a new 0.5 litre bottle size, because this, and the
1 litre bottle, are the common sizes for the end-user sector. 0.5 litre PET
bottles are shrink wrapped into 6-packs and packaged four to a tray. The 1
litre bottles are supplied in 6-packs. 25 percent of the output in terms of
bottle numbers is accounted for by the 0.5 litre bottle. When filling glass
0.25, 0.33, 0.70 and 1 litre bottles are used, in line with customary practice
in the catering industry.
Sidel from start to finish
For glass bottles Selters use filling equipment from KHS and Krones, but in
the PET area it is Sidel machines that do the complete job, from bottle blowing
to palletising (see box). The decision to go for Sidel plant was based on
the many years’ experience they have with PET – a decision that was reinforced
by a visit to the Weser Gold filling plant to see the equipment in action.
The first discussions about a turnkey project were held in March 2000. The
plant was already up and running by September 1st 2000.
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| 28 gram preforms give a good
quality feel to the finished bottle |
The air conveyor also acts as a builder zone in case of a machine stopage |
Although they knew that Sidel produce a combination machine that blows bottles
and also fills, thus eliminating the need for a rinser unit, Selters chose
to install two separate machines for blowing and filling. This may at first
sight seem a strange decision, given that there are the additional costs of
a rinser and air conveyor to be considered as well as the question of maintaining
the air conveyor. Dr. Uwe Biermann, Member of the Board of the Binding Group,
based his decision on keeping open the option of also being able to use finished
bottles from other sources. They also wanted to be able to use a buffer zone
to compensate for machine stoppages of up to 2 minutes.
Brewers think in hectolitres
The PET plant is located in a 2000 m˛ bottling hall. The filler has eight
filling nozzles and can produce 11,250 0.5 litre and 1 litre bottles per hour.
At the moment the company is running on one shift only, with the PET plant
at 88 percent of its capacity. They are certainly considering more capacity,
to be on the safe side, but the ultimate aim is three-shift operation at 10,000
bottles per hour.
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| A view of a SBM machine in the foreground and the filler in the background |
Transfer star-wheel between the rinser and the filling machine |
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The big bottling hall, originally planned for a refillable operation, now
has plenty of space for a second line. Dr. Biermann, who admits to really
being a brewer at heart, talks about hectolitres, unusual in the water industry,
and is looking at 200,000 hectolitres per annum.
The waterfall is not easy
No expense has been spared in the supply of materials. The preforms, which
come from Schmalbach-Lubeca, are real blockbusters at 28 grams. But wall thickness
is part of the bottle concept because on the one hand material is needed to
mould the relief design and on the other hand it has a quality feel. According
to the factory technical manager Peter Krauss moulding the relief image of
the stylised waterfall on the lower part of the bottle is a critical part
of the bottle blowing operation. But it has to be there, firstly to maximise
the similarity to the glass bottle, and secondly to maintain a unique distinguishing
feature of Selters bottles.
The 2-piece screw closure is also not cheap, but that too is essential, in
order that the consumer can reclose the bottle and have the highest possible
assurance of a tamper-free pack. The wrap-around label is made of paper. The
blue tinted bottles for mineral water include an AA blocker and a blue colorant.
The bottles used for apple spritzer are colourless and have no AA blocker.
Both drinks have a minimum shelf life of around eight months. Even though
Selters are proud of their PET bottle they do not make much of it in their
promotional activity. As far as the consumer is concerned it is the Selters
brand that they want to promote.
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