PET walks over breakable glass

Converter of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Esterform Packaging is helping a number of retailers and brand owners with beverage and food packaging in a move away from breakable glass.

The firm produces Innocent's one-litre carafes along with a wide range of bottles and preforms for all types of beverage, ranging from water and sparkling drinks to dairy, juice and functional drinks.

Last year, the firm introduced short-neck 28mm 1881 plastic closure only neck preforms for soft drinks and water in bottles from 250ml to two litres. These save on costly PET resin and conserve precious resources.

The lightest preform in the range weighs just 13.6g and works well for individually embossed 250ml and ribbed 330ml bottles, and for lightweight 500ml bottles for still water. For more individual bottle concepts for still water, a 14.5g preform is available.

Esterform's 18.5g perform, weighing just a little more, is a cost- effective solution for 500ml bottles of sparkling and carbonated products. The 20.8g preform offers the widest range of design possibilities for 500ml bottles both still and carbonated and for 600ml promotion packs.

The 22.3g preform is designed for lightweight 750ml bottles and is the best for material economy. For a wide range of one-litre shapes, including champagne-based table waters, the 28.3g preform works well and is also suitable for 1.25l promotional designs.

New PET jars designed by Esterform Packaging for Sainsbury's peanut butter packs, reduced the weight of the original glass jars by 83% overall. This supported Sainsbury's target to cut total packaging weight by one third by 2015.

Contact: Esterform Packaging