Long-established packaging solution provider Sidel Group has launched a brand new base for flat PET containers, which the company claims not only increases stability but is also more environmentally friendly. The oval StarLITE™ HPC base is compliant with recycled PET (rPET) up to 100% and is said to increase container stability by up to 25%, while also optimising bottle weight and energy consumption in order to minimise production costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
The anti-rocking design of the completely flat StarLITE™ HPC is based on a 360-degree continuous contact surface, which improves tilt angle and can be combined with structural ribs and oval push-up. “The doubled sitting surface and the balanced stretching ratios between small and large sides enable better material distribution, while avoiding base sagging,” explains Laurent Naveau, packaging expert at Sidel.
The asymmetric base design prevents unexpected base roll-out, making both empty and filled containers more stable on conveyors and thus helping increase production uptime. Applicable for both opaque and transparent PET resins, the structure also offers lightweighting opportunities, with Sidel claiming a 0.5 g PET reduction for a 500 mL container base.
The StarLITE™ HPC’s base is easy to blow and apparently reduces blow moulding pressure by up to 10%, i.e., a 3 bar decrease for a 420 mL container. The enhanced base cooling engineering for mould and tooling design also improves base cooling during blow moulding, and may prevent post-mould base cooling according to bottle shape, format and weight.
Sidel say these features make it possible to push the process speed limit even further and to increase production output up to 15% higher than the market average. For instance, a flat container produced at 1,600 bottles per hour per mould (b/h/m) with a standard market base can be blown up to 1,800 b/h/m with the StarLITE HPC base, with possibilities to reach up to 2,000 b/h/m according to bottle shape. Sidel claim this makes the StarLITE™ HPC base cost-effective as well as eco-friendly.
The StarLITE™ HPC base is compatible with all generations of Sidel blow moulding machines: SBO EvoBLOW, SBO Universal, SBO Series2 and SBO Series1.