SDI JUL09.qxd - Soft Drinks International

DEVELOPMENTS
42 Soft Drinks International – JULY 2009
Packaging
Reusable flip straw
PENGUIN Brands Inc is introducing Nathan
Performance Gear Flip Straw Pure Bottles, a
line of premium reusable water bottles
made with Eastman Tritan, a new-generation
copolyester. Tritan is said to deliver the
advantages of traditional copolyesters, such
as clarity and toughness, with high-heat and
chemical resistance, improved design flexibility
and ease of processing. It also is manufactured
without bisphenol-A (BPA).
“When designing our new line of premium
water bottles, we sought a material
that would fit in seamlessly with the rest of
our product line while meeting consumer
demands,” said Megan Russell, Vice-President
of Marketing and Sales, Penguin Brands.
“Eastman Tritan copolyester was an exact fit
for our needs. Not only does it offer a BPAfree
alternative that is durable and dishwasher-safe,
but it also encourages
consumers to use refillable bottles.”
Nathan Performance Gear, a subsidiary of
Moulding first
OHIO-based Plastic Technologies Inc (PTI)
has developed a lightweight foamed polyethylene
(PET) bottle/jar blow moulding
process. Marketed under the oPTI (pronounced
'opti') brand name, the process is
based on MuCell technology licensed from
Trexel Inc and is claimed the first of its kind.
According to PTI, the development provides
beverage brand owners with a
broader range of PET container aesthetics
and performance capabilities than previously
possible. For example, the process enables
white or silvery coloured bottles to be
made without additives which can limit package
recycling. Containers also have a unique
surface feel and provide tactile 'traction'
which minimises slipping. And this process
blow moulds details more prominently
which enables decorations, such as
embossed logos, to stand out better.
“White oPTI bottles provide an environmentally-friendly
option to conventional bottles
which use additives to achieve a similar
tint. Instead of being a contaminant to the
clear recycling stream, white foamed bottles
will mould into a transparent bottle after
remelting and subsequent processing,”
explained Frank Semersky, Vice-President,
PTI.
In addition to white or silver, blue and
green hues also can be used since those
colour streams already exist in traditional
PET recycling. The technology also is capable
of producing bottles in a variety of pastel
colours (amber, yellow, pink, etc).
Penguin Brands, developed the Flip Straw
Pure Bottles to allow easy access to fluids
without unscrewing the cap or tilting the lid.
The bottles feature a wide-mouthed, screw-
However, these cannot be recycled as part
of the clear PET stream. Containers can be
made from slightly translucent to opaque
depending on the desired aesthetics and
performance characteristics.
Because the foam process adds stiffness,
lightweighting of up to 5% is also feasible
without significant loss of performance. Further,
the technology can produce bottles
with significant light barrier characteristics, up
top lid that is easy to grip and large enough
for easy filling and cleaning, and a finger loop
with QuickClip (patent pending) for attaching
to belts and backpacks.
to 95% reduction in transmitted light. The
foam bottle technology is applicable to other
resins such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polyethylene
naphthalate (PEN).
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