Sidel unveils X-LITE Still: “The world’s lightest still water bottle”

03 Jul 2019 --- Liquid packaging supplier Sidel has launched the “world’s lightest” 500ml PET bottle for non-pressurized still water. The ultra-lightness of the X-LITE Still bottle enables customers to optimize packaging and production efficiencies while reducing the consumption of PET resin and overall energy output. The 6.5g, 195mm bottle is complemented by the lightweight Novembal Novaqua RightCAP26 closure.

Sidel X-LITE Still integrates the StarLITE Still base solution, which is already implemented worldwide and brings the benefits of increased stability and stress resistance throughout the value chain, in addition to design flexibility and lightweighting possibilities.

StarLite is Sidel’s patented design for the base of PET bottles for still drinks. The design makes it possible to reduce the total package weight by up to one gram of material in a 0.5L bottle or two grams in a 1.5L format, helping to create PET bottles with even less material.

The energy savings enabled by StarLITE Still are mainly achieved through a reduction in blowing pressure and heating power without compromise to packaging performance. This base design can be adapted to all Sidel blowing platforms and applied to existing production lines to reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

“While developing the Sidel X-LITE Still packaging solution, our focus was on the top load performance as it reflects the performance of the bottle through the entire supply chain. Our target was to raise the bar above 30kg as this bottle performance has been increasingly requested by our customers in the PET bottled water market,” Laurent Naveau, Sidel Packaging Expert, tells PackagingInsights.

“To reduce the bottle’s weight, we have also performed some feasibility tests and finite elements analysis (FEA) to optimize the ribs profiles and the overall bottle design,” Naveau adds.

“The lightest water bottle in the world”
As “the lightest bottle in the world for still water,” Sidel X-LITE Still reduces the consumption of PET resin. When compared to bottles weighing 12g, the new solution can save 1,485 tons of PET per year while generating energy savings of up to 335,000 kWh/year. Combined, these reductions amount to 3,000 tons of CO2 saved, which equals 25 round trips between New York and Paris by plane with 200 passengers on board, Sidel says. For bottled water producers, the accumulated savings of PET resin and energy can equate to an estimated €2 million (US$2.26 million) per year.

“For our customers, the new preform design and neck finish featured by the X-LITE Still packaging solution translate to a very fast payback on their investment, even when the line retrofit includes a completely new injection stack”, says Naveau. “By switching from a 12 g PET bottle to the X-LITE Still 6.5 g bottle, the payback time for a line upgrade would only be between two to four months.”

Last year, The Sidel StarLite family of bottle base solutions expanded with the launch of the StarLite UltraLight for Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSD), which offers a lighter bottle than existing options on the market. Like the X-LITE Still, the new UltraLight CSD base design significantly decreases the amount of raw material needed to produce the PET bottles.

The Novaqua RightCAP 26
The Novaqua RightCAP 26 is a linerless, lightweight closure that has been specially designed for still water coupled with high output bottling lines. These credentials make it an ideal fit making fit for the Sidel X-LITE Still, Naveau explains.

“This lightweight cap is perfectly fit to reduce packaging costs with no loss of quality or performance for the bottlers and end-users. The tightness that the cap provides is one of the most important aspects of this closure because – thanks to its double seal configuration featuring two sealing contact areas – it preserves product quality and freshness; both a must-have for water producers,” Naveau notes.

“Lastly, the Novaqua RightCAP 26 caps are manufactured using organoleptic HDPE resin grade to provide excellent taste and odor characteristics, thus helping to preserve the safety of the still water,” he adds.

Sidel tells PackagingInsights that it is currently proposing the X-LITE Still solution to major brands and co-packers active in the PET bottled water market, all of whom require high production speeds and lighter bottles.

By Joshua Poole