Lighter, Higher Performance Base Design for Premium rPET Bottles

Stretch-blow molding machinery and tooling supplier Sidel has a new addition to its StarLITE-R range of base designs for 100% rPET bottles. StarLITE-R Premium is described as a “sleek, high-performance bottle base” for premium PET bottles for liquid dairy products, flavored water, juices, nectars, soft drinks, isotonics and teas. It’s said to offer a “sophisticated, streamlined appearance,” along with superior performance in bottle stability and lower environmental impact than competing designs.

Premium PET bottles are typically heavier than standard designs to provide an enhanced consumer experience through greater bottle rigidity and preserved beverage quality. But thicker bottle bases are prone to deformation, especially if manufactured at high speeds, Sidel notes. However, StarLITE-R Premium is said to guarantee bottle stability with its wide-standing surface geometry, and an enhanced cooling circuit in the mold base is especially efficient for molding rPET, which is typically processed at higher temperatures than virgin PET. Sidel says these technical features provide high performance at speeds up to 2,500 bottles per hour per mold.

The design uses a Sidel patented vault technology to avoid any visible ribs on the bottle base, which has a tall central dome surrounded by lower radiating ridges with alternating widths and lengths. The bottle base is easy to blow and requires 25% lower blowing pressure than average premium bottles, which saves energy. Premium bottles typically require higher blowing pressure due to their greater thickness, which adds to their environmental footprint. Adaptation of the new base design to 100% rPET increases the sustainability advantages of StarLITE-R Premium.

The new base is compatible with a wide range of bottle designs — including round and square-round, opaque and transparent, and single and multiserve sizes from 0.25 L to 2 L. It can be produced on Sidel EvoBlow, Universal and Series 2 machines, and is suited to both regular and aseptic filling lines. It’s also said to be easy to retrofit into existing production lines.