Lightweighting

KHS is setting a new benchmark with one of the world’s lightest PET bottles for still beverages to date.

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Working under the title “Factor 101,” the container was developed in close cooperation with the Canadian-based technology and service provider Husky Technologies. It combines a material consumption of just 5.89 grams with a volume of 591 milliliters. This corresponds to the 20-ounce size commonly used in the United States.

KHS presented the “Factor 100” concept as a feasibility study at drinktec 2017:

a PET bottle weighing around 5 grams and holding 500 milliliters. A series of optimizations were made for further development, as KHS packaging developer Fabian Osterhold in Hamburg explains: “With such extreme lightweighting, the so-called top load is particularly important. This value indicates how resilient the bottle is vertically. It determines whether the container is stackable and will survive transport unscathed.”

Lightweight with high stability

To increase stability, the shoulder design was modified and the bottle body was equipped with functional ribs. Osterhold and his colleagues also developed a base design with a pop-in effect. This ensures a defined sinking of the base during top loading, thus increasing the internal pressure and thus the stability of the bottle.