PTI said its oPTI lightweight foamed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) container blow moulding process can be used to produce beer bottles in a variety of structural configurations depending on a brewer's specific shelf-life requirements for its brand.
The firm said that overmoulded options have been developed to deliver point-of-sale differentiation coupled with barrier performance attributes at a cost "significantly lower than single-use aluminum beer bottles."
The oPTI process, explained PTI, is based on preforms made from microcellular foam injection technology that create a dual layer structure.
And the US packaging developer said that the double layer enables a customization of barrier attributes. "For example, oxygen barrier can be added to the inner layer, while the outer is made with carbon dioxide barrier."
Options for brewers include a monolayer PET version and two over-molded options - an oPTI inner layer and an overmoulded traditional PET outer layer; or a traditional PET inner layer with oPTI technology used to produce the external layer, continued PTI.
Cost savings
Frank Semersky, vice president and chief innovation officer at PTI told this publication that only the minimum amount of each of the barrier materials for CO2 and O2 need be added to the oPTI technology process to accomplish the shelf life required for beer application.
“The ability to optimize the barrier requirements in the least expensive manner is compelling,” he continued.
Semersky said that PTI’s technology can produce bottles with improved light barrier when compared to traditional PET containers. Additionally, he said, the foam process enables lightweighting of up to 5 per cent without significant change to barrier properties.
The oPTI technology, he continued, can operate with any closures system on the market today, and the innovation officer said that it does not present challenges in terms of filling. "Upgrades to equipment are not required," said the innovation officer.
Beer potential
PET may have something of an image problem to overcome in the beer market but researchers from Pira International believe technological developments could spark a take off in the coming years.
One of the main technical barriers holding PET back in the beer market had been the availability of suitable barrier technologies, as beer is sensitive to the damaging effects of oxygen.
Advances in active packaging have also opened up the market, according to Pira. For example, oxygen scavenging closures can be used to remove oxygen throughout the life of a product so a packaged beer can have a lower oxygen content on the shelf than it had when first filled.
In addition to the technological improvements that make PET more suitable for beer, the material offers some advantages to brand owners.
Compared to glass, Pira said there is potential for significant cost savings from using PET because bottles can be blown on site rather than being delivered. There are additional savings related to the elimination of risk of breakage and supply chain costs linked to weight and recyclability.