StarLITE®-R Nitro has a distinctive ‘wave’ bottle base design for still beverages and edible oils in contrast with traditional petaloid shapes and is 100 percent compatible with recycled PET. It has also undergone testing within industrial conditions to guarantee top bottle resilience and quality.
Laurent Naveau, Packaging Innovator Leader at Sidel, comments: “StarLITE®-R Nitro is the perfect choice to create stand-out shelf appeal. We believe it is the most aesthetically appealing bottle base for liquid nitrogen-dosed products with a mainstream or affordable market positioning. Equally this design is both compatible with any existing bottle shape and is easy to blow and shape, even at high production speeds with 100 percent rPET.”
Sidel is widening its existing StarLITE®-R range, a dedicated portfolio of bottle bases designed for recycled PET (rPET).
“Nitrogen dosing adds a small quantity of liquid nitrogen to beverage and food products which enables an increase in pressure inside the bottle ultimately aiding the pack’s resistance as it travels through the supply chain. This process is used for still beverages and food products. Brands are looking for a design that does not resemble a petaloid while maintaining the same performance as this traditional shape; this is a key feature of StarLITE® -R Nitro,” explains Laurent.
“As an original equipment manufacturer with over forty years of blowing expertise, Sidel has channelled this experience into the design of its new bottle base for nitrogen-dosed still products.”
Stand-out shelf appeal
Sidel has developed a unique and original wave-shaped bottle base for nitrogen-dosed still beverages and edible oils to help manufacturers create stand-out supermarket shelf appeal.
This ‘wave’ pattern provides the perfect foundations for many bottle shapes and designs, from 0.2 litres to 2.5 litres, increasing the creative scope of manufacturers, while the non-petaloid base helps to differentiate among consumers from carbonated soft drinks.
StarLITE®-R Nitro’s bottle base features optimised mould base geometry and an efficient venting system which helps to achieve perfect shaping easily.
Proven performance
StarLITE®-R Nitro has secured a high mechanical performance at high speed when used with 100 percent rPET. The base design can be used with production speeds up to 2,700 b/h/m for single-serve formats or 2,500 b/h/m for multi-serve bottles.
The design has also undergone stringent testing including drop tests with no base breakage, particularly important for bottles made with rPET which tends to be more sensitive to breakages. The new Nitro base features an ideal standing surface to secure bottle stability. Similarly, it is qualified to withstand storage up to 38 degrees centigrade.
The bottle base design draws upon Sidel’s patented mould technology that features 8 to 10 waves to withstand high internal pressure resistance, between 0.5 to 0.8 bar, even with lightweight bottles. Additionally, the bottle base is compatible with Sidel’s range for SBO blowers: series 2, Universal and EvoBLOW and can easily be retrofitted onto existing production lines and moulds.
Sustainable packaging
Sidel’s StarLITE®-R Nitro offers manufacturers the opportunity to switch to 100 percent rPET, while utilising a low blowing pressure and keeping bottle weight to a minimum. For a 0.5L bottle, by switching from virgin PET to 100 percent rPET StarLITE®-R Nitro base, manufacturers can reduce carbon dioxide tonnage produced by 32 percent[1]
Equally, manufacturers can reduce blowing pressure needed thanks to the Nitro base’s optimised venting design that combines grooves with venting holes to achieve an 18bar blowing pressure for single-serve format vs 24bar market average, a 25 percent CO2 reduction[2].
The bottle solution is also compatible with a wide range of bottle weights including extreme light weights.
[1] calculation based on 0.5L bottle Virgin PET vs. 0.5L StarLITE®-R Nitro bottle 100% rPET (same weight) | Environmental footprint reference data: 2.43 t CO2 eq / ton of virgin PET | 1. 63 t CO2 eq/ ton of rPET
[2] calculation based on a 0.5L bottle 24 bar blowing pressure vs. 0.5L StarLITE®-R Nitro bottle 18 bar blowing pressure | Source: Energy factor TERNA 2019 for average Europe UK included (278 gCO2eq. / kWh)
