Moreno Barel: When we design packaging, we always keep in mind that it’s a complex artefact, the synthesis of communicative and operating functions.
Those operating functions, that are attributed to packaging, stand-in ‘operating-performing’, which make it suitable for storing, protection and transportation, and ‘accessibility’, due to its ability to facilitate the interaction between the consumer and the product.
Over time, packaging has improved its operating functions, but above all has expanded and enhanced those ‘expressive-communicative functions’ becoming an object able to create relationships among the product and the consumer, values ??and needs.
Reducing the amount of PET can be seen as a way to enhance the communicative functions, because it is strictly linked to the green message. It is necessary to treat this need as one of the parts of a more complex system in order to give to it the right importance, without compromising the other functions and, at the end, the whole packaging as a complex artefact.
The line we always draw is the correct balance, which comes from the result of a technical process and an aesthetic combination, where functionality and aesthetics are inextricably linked to an ergonomic study and its use.
Moreno Barel: Our 5-litre lightweight bottle, using just 60g of PET, is our greatest success so far. Awarded the Oscar dell’Imballaggio 2013, this is the combination of an ad hoc preform and perfect material distribution on the structural parts of the bottle, giving rigidity where essential.
The critical part was to put the material in the preform exactly where it was needed to avoid over-stretching and reduce material where it tends to become amorphous during the blowing phase. The ribs add stability and prevent implosion while pouring.
During the prototype phase, we trialled different resins and materials, including Novapet’s XTREME resin. This offers excellent results in terms of visual appearance. The bottles used 50% rPET, by Plastipak, as the combined study of the preform and the bottle allowed to use resins with lower mechanical performances when compared with standard PET. The blowing phase was delivered in collaboration with Side, a company specialised in blowing machines for big formats.
Moreno Barel: Since 1999, we have seen a dramatic reduction in the weight of carbonated drinks packaging, of around 40-50%. As a result, unbreakable and lightweight PET bottles have become the container of choice for beverage consumers.
Technical progress in blowing has increased production capacity and reduced costs. And today, additives and barriers within the PET make them suitable even for sensitive products such as milk, juice and wine. The introduction of recycled materials and bioplastics is also becoming noticed, particularly by environmentally conscious consumers.
Moreno Barel: At No 1 is Tolstiak, a 1.5- and 2-litre beer bottle, developed in 2001 for InBev. This helped the widespread diffusion of PET in Russia and its acceptance by consumers as a viable alternative to glass. These were the first steps in what was to become our main market.
At No 2 the 0.5-litre Levissima bottle combines lightweight, performance, eco-sustainability, reduced protection costs, ergonomic and shelf-appeal. The ribbed body provides high resistance to axial top load without use of nitrogen (often used to compensate for lack of structure in ultra-light containers). This was the first development of the Swerve Neck bottle, which was awarded for its lightweighting technology at the Global Beverage Sustainability Awards at InnoBev 2013.
At No 3 is Vitasnella, the bottle we developed for Ferrarelle in 2013. It meant a big change for PET Engineering, which in recent years has hired industrial designers and changed its philosophy of packaging design. The packaging, from now on, wouldn’t be just the outcome of technical skills but the result of a broader approach that looks at packaging not only as a tool for drinking but also as a fundamental communicative tool and the main brand touch point between the brand and the customer.
Vitasnella allowed us to demonstrate our expertise thanks to a restyling that, as brand manager Gabriele Monda said, “is really relevant because the brand Vitasnella can highlight its own positioning, not only through the activities above and below-the-line already explained, but also through its packaging”.
Moreno Barel: Recycled and alternative materials will become more important than lightweighting which, as we know, has already been pushed to the limit, often affecting the usability of the container and its capability as a tool. For this reason, in our laboratory, we work in two directions: on one hand we are daily engaged in testing new materials, resins and additives in order to give our customers a broad overview of the materials currently available in the market. On the other we work against ‘unconscious lightweighting solutions’ by following the criterion of ‘feasible lightweighting’. Low weight, excellent mechanical performance and final quality of each container: this should be the imperative of every company that designs packaging.
Furthermore, companies will work on barriered materials and additives to make PET the most suitable material for any liquid product and, at the same time, new solutions will come out to allow the reduction of production costs while maintaining high performances.
We have already worked in this direction and, in collaboration with Novapet and Husky, we have developed an ultra-light bottle for milk at 18.5g for fresh milk, 19.5g for extended shelf life and 21.5g for UHT, so these are 17.7%, 15.2% and 10.4 % less than the weight of the containers currently on the market.
This lightweighting is the result, along with updates to the preform and container, of adopting a new material, an alternative to the multilayer preforms currently used in the dairy industry.
The DCU by Novapet gives the same barrier performance of a multilayer preform but with lower machinery costs, because it is an additive that can easily be added to PET using a single-stage process for the production of preforms, with less waste, thanks to the simple injection process, reducing both weight and production cost per bottle.
Moreno Barel: One of our main targets is to consolidate our position in our existing markets of Italy, Central and Western Europe, Russia and other CIS countries. We are also looking closely at China which we first entered last year and it has already given us some important results.
The Chinese market appreciates products from the Western world and allows us to offer our products using our reputation for ‘design’, ‘innovation’ and ‘Made in Italy’. We are also planning further investments in R & D, equipment purchase and the recruitment of new staff.
We will continue to develop innovative and efficient solutions, from both an eco-sustainable and cost-optimisation point of view, and provide packaging not only as a liquid carrier but as a tool for brand communication.
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