A young company in Nigeria with plans for growth has opted for Dortmund-based systems supplier KHS for its new PET line. Nigeria is projected to have the world’s third largest population by 2050, yet already its supply of drinking water is inadequate, Nigerians are continuing to have to resort to buying water in bottles – about 45billion litres of it in 2019.
In contrast, with a volume of approximately 2billion litres, the carbonated soft drinks segment is modest. Accordingly, there’s huge potential for growth on a hotly contested market that primarily targets the rapidly increasing middle class. Big Bottling Company (BBC) Nigeria Ltd, which launched in 2015 as a fairly minor player, is targeting this market. BBC products include BIG Cola, BIG Orange, BIG Lemon & Lime and BIG Water and it secured itself a respectable share of the market from day one.
One of the more notable new acquisitions is a PET line with a capacity of up to 48,000 bottles per hour engineered by KHS. The InnoPET BloFill stretch blow molder/filler block forms the heart of the line. In order to meet BBC’s sustainability targets, the stretch blow moulder has been equipped with the AirBackPlus air recovery system. It recycles the compressed air used in the stretch blow moulding process, reuses some of it and in doing so reduces the amount of compressed air needed. This cuts the amount of energy consumed during compressed air generation by up to 36%.