Green news: Sidel launches rPET lightweight bottle base for still products

StarLite-R Still is a new bottle base that employs blow moulding machinery maker Sidel’s patented technology to ensure 100% recycled PET (rPET) integration, lightweighting, and high-speed production for water, juices, milk, and edible oil from 0.25L up to 2.5L. It is the latest in its StarLite series, the machinery maker says.

Plus, by switching from virgin PET to 100% rPET, manufacturers can benefit from a reduction in 2,400 tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year, Sidel claims.

Mikael Derrien, Manager Packaging Innovations at Sidel said that even though there are bottle bases on the market suitable for lightweight designs and high production speeds, they’re designed for virgin PET bottles. “Sidel’s StarLite-R Still is the only solution on the market specifically developed to address recycled PET that achieves the high performance necessary in this competitive market space,” he claims.

Sidel adds the design can also be seamlessly retrofitted onto existing production lines ensuring versatility and the solution requires a low blowing pressure, further enhancing its sustainability credentials.

The bottle base features Sidel’s patented technology, which includes smooth material stretching and precise distribution; optimised venting for easy shaping; and an efficient base cooling circuit ideal for rPET which is likely to be processed at higher temperatures.

The new design ensures the base does not deform or break, crucial for maintaining the bottle's integrity during production, conveying, storage, transportation, and use.

The mould base's rounded-edge design makes it easier to shape during blow moulding, which increases the bottle base resistance to defects such as bursts during the blowing process. This feature is particularly important for lightweight bottles, which are more prone to such issues due to the use of thinner material.

With a high base clearance, the structural design prevents deformation, ensuring functionality and stability even in high-temperature conditions.

The bottle base also performs reliably during high-speed production, thanks to an efficient cooling. This cooling process prevents deformation and defects, maintaining consistent quality at rapid manufacturing speeds.

The bottle production process can use up to 20% less blowing pressure due to improved mould venting of the StarLite-R Still mould base. The carefully designed grooves and venting holes in the mould ensure that air escapes efficiently, allowing the bottle base to take its desired shape perfectly, even at lower pressures. This reduces energy consumption and production costs while maintaining quality.

This bottle base can also be blown at lower pressure, only requiring 16 bars - a reduction of up to 20% on standard air blowing operations, translating to a further saving of 51 tonnes of CO2 equivalent and to EUR205,000 saved, each year[2]

The bottle base is also compatible with a wide range of weights, including very lightweight bottles as low as 7g for 500ml format.

It is also compatible with round, square-round and rectangular shaped bottles as well as suitable for single or multi-serve sizes from 0.25L up to 2.5L. It can also be used with transparent or white PET.

This new bottle base is easy to integrate onto existing manufacturing lines and is qualified for high production speeds across various bottle formats.

It supports single-serve production rates of up to 2,700 bottles/hour per machine and multi-serve rates of up to 2,400 bottles/hour/machine.

It can also be used with virgin PET as well as rPET and be produced utilising Sidel’s EvoBLOW, Universal, and Series 2 blow moulders.

The streamlined bottle base is the latest addition to Sidel’s signature StarLite-R range, which was Sidel's first solution dedicated to rPET, offering enhanced protection against deformation, improved stability, and increased resistance to bursting.

Meanwhile, in 2024 Sidel released the StarLite-R Nitro, a bottle base specifically engineered for still nitrogen-dosed products in 100% rPET bottles and the StarLite-R Premium, a bottle base for 100% rPET bottles.

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