Radnor Hills unveils £6m PET reduction line

The new Krones line allows plastic preforms to be blown into bottles and filled, capped, wrapped and palletised in one automated process.

The ability to blow bottles in-line enables light weighting of the bottles, reducing the amount of PET packaging used.

Able to fill 33,000 bottles an hour and with the capacity to process 200 million bottles a year, the line is the eighth to be installed at the Radnor Hills factory, which is situated on a farm in Powys.

First Minister of Wales​

It was formally opened last week by the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones. The First Minister was given a tour of the facility by Radnor Hills owner William Watkins.

Radnor Hills said it was currently working with suppliers, government bodies and trade associations to increase the level of recycled plastic in its bottles. It followed a commitment to introduce 51% recycled plastic material into bottles produced as of July this year.

The company also manufactures a variety of soft drinks in glass and Tetra Pak cartons.

Recycled-PET bottles are still 100% recyclable, meaning they can be remanufactured into a number of items, including t-shirts, sweaters, fleece jackets, insulation, sleeping bags, carpeting and more plastic bottles.

63 bottles to make a sweater​

It takes 10 bottles to make a T-shirt and 63 bottles to make a sweater, Radnor Hills said.

In addition to Radnor-branded waters and soft drinks, the company produces soft drinks under the Heartsease Farm, Fruella and PAS Professional Sport brands.

The soft drinks company claimed it would achieve zero waste to landfill status by the end of 2018.

The farm in which Radnor Hills sits has been run by the Watkins family for more than 100 years.