“With our new bottle clip variant we now offer a supplement to our future-proof packaging system portfolio,” says project manager Manfred van Triel. The development is the result of a detailed customer survey. “Our new alternative reflects the beverage industry’s need for environmentally-friendly secondary packaging systems. The market finds it very important that fewer materials and especially less plastic are used here.”

Clever combination

With its bottle clip system KHS satisfies both demands: thanks to the use of its proven dots of adhesive, absolutely no outer packaging is required. At the same time, the new cardboard carrying handle ensures convenient, plastic-free transportation. “Extensive handling and laboratory tests confirm the practicality of this pack,” van Triel states. With this resource-conserving system beverage producers can do away with shrink film entirely.

Successful presentation

The sustainable packaging alternative, developed in close cooperation with a well-known European cardboard and paper supplier, will be presented to the public for the first time at interpack. Variants of two to eight PET bottles per pack holding 250 to 2,000 milliliters each are planned. Perfect product presentation is ensured by the exact alignment of the bottles in the pack. “This allows our customers to profit from an attractive billboard effect at the point of sale,” explains van Triel. This can be further emphasized by extensive printing on the bottle clip cardboard.

The new packs are processed on the modular KHS Innopack Kisters NMP packaging machine. Here, the existing module used to apply the original plastic carrying handle is replaced by a newly developed unit that feeds in the alternative cardboard clip and slots it onto the PET containers. Former process steps such as distribution among different lanes, buffering and pack turning are no longer required. This makes the machine up to four meters shorter – a huge benefit for operators with limited production space.

Positive forecast

Van Triel sees great potential in the new bottle clip system. “Customers are showing a lot of interest. They’re especially keen on the minimalist amount of material consumed. We’re thus certain that our new packaging alternative will become established on the market.”