KHS wins innovation award for lightweight PET milk bottle

KHS has been awarded a World Beverage Innovation Award for its lightweight 1 L PET milk bottle.

The award, presented at BrauBeviale in Nuremberg, was presented in the category ‘Best Environmental Sustainability Initiative’.

The product was recognised for its low weight and the related material savings.

The lightweight 1 L PET bottle for milk and mixed milk beverages was developed and tested at the Bottles & Shapes Center at KHS’s site in Hamburg, Germany. The focus was on achieving balance between economy, market acceptance and product quality for the milk bottle.

Material usage and energy consumption have been reduced considerably. With a thread diameter of 32 mm, the bottle weighs 20 g. In comparison, PET bottles of the same size commonly found on the market tip the scales at around 22 g. Thanks to material savings of 2 g of PET per bottle, up to €140,000 per year can be saved based on a production of 50 million bottles.

The lightweight bottle can be aseptically filled. It protects the product, reduces production costs and is fully recyclable. Its FlipBase base reliably compensates the negative pressure created in the bottle during filling of the warm beverage.

KHS offers two versions of the bottle with UV light barriers: a transparent bottle that is covered after filling with a protective sleeve, and a white bottle with a reliable light guard made of titanium dioxide. An intermittent rib structure gives easy-to-grip stability.