SPECIAL
FOCUS
39
MAR 2017 FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
rank,sheclaims, rankamong theclassicsolutions
forsavingpowerandother resourcesandboosting
energy efficiency. Efficient motors perfectly
adapted to themachine’smotionsandacceleration
processes reducepowerconsumption. Inaddition,
Fritsche continues, innovative and improved
processes lower the consumption of energy and
waterwhile innovativemachinestrategiesextend
serviceandmaintenance intervalsandservice life
and thus save energy.
Upcycling–SecondLife forPackages
TheexampleofsmoothiemanufacturerTrueFruits
demonstrates that environmental protection in
thedrinks industry has nowbecomea key factor
andcanevenbe turned toone’sownadvantage.
Unlikemany other manufacturers, the company
markets its drinks not in plastic bottles, but in
ceramic-printed, cylindrical 250 and 750millilitre
glass bottles inorder to communicate the values
of honesty, purity, high quality and transparency
that gowith the purist design. To ensure that the
bottles are not simply discarded into the bottle
bankafterconsumptionof theircontents, theTrue
Fruits teamhasgiven thematter of bottle reusea
gooddealof thought.Thesolution theyhavecome
upwith iswhat isknownas “upcycling”,where the
usedobjectservesas thebasis foranewproduct.
True Fruits has developed attachments that are
simply fitted to the tops of theemptiedbottles: at
present, the company is offering durable tops,
a sprinkler for sugar, salt and spices, a pourer
for oils, vinegar and sauces, and a tea strainer.
The combination of vitamins, extravagance
and sustainability is evidently appreciated by
customers: True Fruits is currently one of the
market leaderswith smoothies.
Bio-plasticsareanotheravenue forsustainable
beveragepackages. In2015,Coca-Colaunveiled
its new bottle
2
generation made entirely of
renewable resources and announced market
launch in the near future. These bio-based
materials of its “first generation” are to be
produced in the long run frombiomass, e.g. from
woodwastes. In a research project, scientists at
theUniversity of Hohenheim are testing another
promisingnatural resourceas abottlematerial –
chicory root, used until now for the production of
biogas. The inedible root amounts to 30 percent
of the plant. From it, researchers are obtaining
unpurifiedhydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)whichcan
be used for theproductionof PEF bottles.
InnovationPotential inProduction
However, quite a bit of development workwill be
required before plant-based bottles succeed the
currently widely used PET bottles. All the same,
big potential for cost savings can be found not
only in thematerialssector,butalso inproduction
equipment. Industry is therefore doing all it can
to improve production methods. An example
of this is the Doğuş Çay tea factory in Izmir. In
2015, at its Ödemiş site in Izmir, the Turkish
company commissionedahot filling line
3
withan
output of 22,500containersper hour.Ayear after
installation, a team on site at the line launched
tests to improve thecompressedairsystem.After
an upgrade and simple optimisation of the blowmouldingmachine
4
, the linewent back
intonormal operation.A test runhasachievedextraordinary results, thecompanyclaims.
With unchanged container quality, thismodification has achieved 44 percent savings in
compressedair consumption.Theupgradeyieldscashsavingsamounting tosomeEUR
40,000 per year based on a calculatedmachine running time of 6,000 hours per year.
Reference
Additional Information
1
NatureMultiPack technology - thebonding together of PETbottleswith specially developedadhesives
poweredbyKHS.
2
PlantBottle
TM
- Coca-Colaunveiled theworld’s first PETplasticbottlemadeentirely fromplant materials
earlier today at theWorldExpo inMilan, Italy.
3
NitroHotfill line fromKrones
4
Contiform3blowmouldingmachine fromKrones
