Sustainable packaging solutions at their best

Finding sustainable packaging solutions has jumped to the top of the priority list for food and beverage manufacturers across the globe as consumers become increasingly concerned with the effect of packaging on the environment. Corne Pretorius, general manager at Nissei ASB South Africa spoke to Food Review about the sustainable packaging machinery his company has to offer.

According to the Plastics: The cost to society, environment and the economy report for WWF by Dalberg, it is estimated that by 2040 there will be a doubling of plastic production and a tripling of plastic pollution entering the ocean to 29 million tonnes, increasing the total stock of plastic in the ocean to 600 million tonnes. Therefore, finding ways to reduce the production of plastic or create more recyclable forms of plastic for food and beverage manufacturing is essential.

“Nissei ASB is especially focused on finding these solutions. We have been developing our business with the aim of popularising safe and convenient plastic containers for about 40 years. We are proud that we have been delivering injection stretch blow molding machines and molds to clients in more than 130 countries, contributing to the wellbeing of people all over the world,” says Corne Pretorius, general manager at Nissei ASB South Africa. ASB started its business in 1978, one year after the first introduction of PET bottles in Japan. Since then, the lightweight property, safety and recyclability of plastic materials, especially PET, have been widely recognised around the world, leading to the widespread use of plastics. Now, more so than ever before, the company is committed to fulfilling the following principles:

• Reduce – use less resources to meetthe need

• Reuse – Re-introduce in the same flow

• Recycle – Turning materials into newsubstance or product

• Recovery – Recover energy when youcan’t recycle

• Disposal – Landfill when no alternative.

Plastic containers are used to contain a great variety of products, from refreshing beverages to liquors and even seasoning agents. Among the numerous equipment that Nissei ASB offers to cater to their customer’s packaging needs, one of their front runners for sustainability for bag-in-box production is the PF36-9/12000.

Nissei ASB has been developing their business with the aim of popularising safe and convenient plastic containers for about 40 years.

The PF36 Series is an incredibly compact molding solution that provides high output of PET bottles. In this system, PET resin is molded first into preforms, then directly into bottles all within one machine ensuring the highest possible container quality and visual appeal that easily surpasses 2-step molding methods, yet does so within just 25%–30% of the factory space required by a competitive2-step system.

The PF36 Series Vision 1 control system’s response and communication speed is faster than dedicated PLC systems enhancing cycle efficiency and synchronised control precision. The PC-based system is extremely flexible in use and compatible with Industry 4.0 for enhanced factory networking (IIoT). It also has a larger, easy-to-read panel that provides easier access to relevant information without changing pages. Most manual operation switches are replaced by touchscreen operation and improved operator feedback improves troubleshooting response time and minimises down-time. It is easier and faster service support. This entire system together as a whole provides a 50% reduction of material use, which for a 12L Bag-in-box 120g would result in 1 320 tonnes PET/year

“Another fantastic product that we have is the HSB series, which is our most sustainable beverage packaging solution,” explains Pretorius. The HSB Series double blow re-heat blow molding machines provide an integrated and matched solution to hot filling and pasteurisation needs. This machine produces refillable/ reusable PET that can be used for up to 25 cycles. Using a full mold set in the double blow mechanism will allow molding containers that are capable of being filled at up to 95°C. High heat resistance-volume shrinkage after 25 washing cycles is below 1%. The bottles that are produced through this system are of the highest quality and rPET can be incorporated in this machine.

“While these are just two of the packaging systems they offer, Nissei ASB also has a range of other solutions that cater to all beverage packaging needs,”says Pretorius. The company is completely committed to continuing to bring environmentally-friend plastic packaging solutions to the local F&B industry. •

Nissei ASB – https://www.nisseiasb.co.jp/en/