Packaging

Plastic bottle revolution begins at www.no-bottle.com

Thursday 22. May 2008 - Sidel unveils the www.no-bottle.com Web site, detailing the company’s actions to reduce the environmental impact of plastic bottles.

Every day, people consume over one billion plastic bottles worldwide. Plastic’s popularity with consumers raises questions about environmental impact. As the inventor of the plastic bottle in the 1960s, Sidel is keenly aware of its responsibility to good corporate citizenship, particularly since PET plastic bottles are made from nonrenewable resources. “As the leader in equipment for packaging beverages in plastic bottles, we have the opportunity, power and responsibility to bring change to this industry,” states Mart Tiismann, president of Sidel. Consequently, Sidel is offering its customers concrete and innovative solutions for a greener plastic bottle.

Online since April 1, 2008, www.no-bottle.com features information about initiatives at Sidel that address these issues. In fact, Sidel has been contributing to source reduction for some time. One example is NoBottle, a new ultralight, high-end PET bottle that symbolizes the full range of Sidel’s expertise in bottle lightweighting and eco-design. This new benchmark in lightweight plastic bottles, 25-40% lighter than the previous generation, has succeeded in overcoming a number of technological challenges to pave the way for new possibilities in the plastic packaging world. The site also keeps a real time count of how much PET is being saved by NoBottle technology. As of late April 2008, savings already total 28,000 tons.

Other avenues being investigated to conserve natural resources include research into bioplastic applications and an acceleration of bottle production using recycled PET. These initiatives point to Sidel’s determination to continuously move forward. Environmental protection is the new frontier in innovation, and to achieve its goal, Sidel is increasing its 2008 Research and Development budget by 20%.

Available in five languages, the www.no-bottle.com site targets a broad audience from packaging professionals to the media and general public. One section explains the bottle’s life cycle, from manufacturing to end of life. In addition to the functional appeal that makes plastic so popular with consumers, PET bottles are 100% recyclable and can have a second life as another bottle, in textiles or any number of applications. Through the website, Sidel is helping raise awareness about the importance of sorting and recycling so that consumers view bottles as objects of value instead of waste.