Graham Packaging has begun supplying single-serve PET Monosorb barrier bottles for fruit juices and other oxygen-sensitive drinks. The company says that its latest advancement for PET packaging is made from a resin blended with a modified formulation of BP's Amosorb DFC additive.
"This development now makes it possible for oxygen-sensitive beverage products to be packed in mono-layer barrier containers," said George A. Peterson, a business director in Graham Packaging's Food & Beverage Business Unit.
"Monosorb bottles enlarge and enhance our existing arsenal of barrier technologies and allow us to be even more flexible in how we respond in meeting varying customer needs."
Graham Packaging worked with BP over the last two years to modify the formulation of its Amosorb DFC oxygen scavenger for mono-layer PET. "The result of this collaborative research and development effort is a new mono-layer technology, which, when blended into a single layer of PET, creates a barrier that protects oxygen-sensitive beverages such as fruit juices," Peterson said.
Unlike other barrier technologies, which involve adding a coating or creating multiple layers, the barrier in Graham Packaging's Monosorb bottle is achieved by blending Amosorb DFC into the PET resin immediately prior to moulding using Graham Packaging's proprietary process.
Peterson said the barrier level in Monosorb bottles can be metered by percentage to customise protection on an as-needed basis. For certain products with extreme sensitivity to oxygen, Graham Packaging's Monosorb technology can be supplemented with coating technologies, creating yet another barrier option.
"We see an important continuing role for other barrier technologies, such as coatings and multi-layers, but this new Monosorb technology provides the kind of simple, cost-effective approach that many mainstream beverage makers have been seeking," Peterson said.
Amongst a number of beverage companies to take up on the new technology is Apple & Eve, of Port Washington, New York, one of the largest independently owned juice companies in the US, has begun using 10-ounce Monosorb bottles for its juice products.
"The introduction of the bottles is another demonstration of Graham Packaging's ongoing commitment to developing leading-edge technology that not only answers but also anticipates the needs of the marketplace," Peterson said.
"We're excited about the technology," Gordon Crane, president of Apple & Eve, said. "It will help to ensure the highest standards of freshness, flavour and colour in our pure juice products."
The company says that its Monosorb bottles can be recycled the same way as any other PET container and can be re-used for food-grade packaging. BP's Amosorb DFC additive has received the Champions for Change Award from the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers.
Graham Packaging, based in Pennsylvania, US, is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of customised blow-moulded plastic containers for the branded food and beverage, household and personal care, and automotive lubricants markets.
The company employs approximately 3,900 people at 55 plants throughout North America, Europe and South America. It produced more than nine billion units and had total worldwide net sales of $906.7 million (€775m) in 2002.