KHS has also developed its rPET home care and food containers. In extra to bottle handles slotted into place mechanically, the Dortmund company now presents a glued-in process that provides users plenty of benefits: stretch blow molded utilizing the preferential heating method, the KHS PET bottle is better stable than the extrusion-blow-molded polyolefin options currently available on the market. 

Glued-in handles also need a better precise contour than the clip-in variety, furthermore saving on material and, at the same time, boosting efficiency in the stretch blow molding process. Both the bottle body and handle are fully recyclable and produced of rPET.

The product of, the 2.3-liter PET bottle with a glued-in handle resulted from a one-and-a-half-year cooperation between KHS and Logoplaste Innovation Lab. The purpose was to create a bottle, especially for home care products with the smallest potential carbon footprint. With its ready-for-market system, KHS and Logoplaste Group wish to keep the industry striving for greater sustainability.

Reduced consumption of energy and resources

“Our adhesive technology enables us to cut down on the amount of energy and material used in production and manufacture a container that’s both more stable and visually more appealing than the standard products currently available on the market,” says Sebastian Wenderdel, PET sales business development manager at KHS in Hamburg, Germany. The direct comparison reveals that up to 30% fewer resources are used in manufacturing, with 10% in material saved over a clip-in handle. Instead of producing the bottle on an extrusion blow molder as is typical, stretch blow molding is particularly energy-efficient – a not inconsiderable advantage given the rising prices for energy and raw materials.

In conjunction with preferential heating KHS provides an exact and reliable piece of plant equipment. This tried-and-tested, energy-efficient heating method permits homogenous distribution of the material during the stretch blow molding process in plastic bottles with irregular and complex design, thus lowering the number of resources used and boosting bottle stability. Neck alignment with millimeter accuracy as an optional component allows precise product dosing with the help of oriented spout caps. Furthermore, as the new PET bottle does not have any seams – as opposed to those on standard containers made of HDPE or PP – it has proved convincing in rigorous in-house drop tests, claims Wenderdel.

When selecting a suitable adhesive, the design team drew on the years of expertise accumulated by KHS during the Nature MultiPack project. The container provides a further plus when it comes to product marketing. “The transparent PET material makes the product visible,” Wenderdel states. Moreover, customers can have their bottles designed with the help of the KHS Bottles & Shapes service program.

Moving towards a circular economy

With the development of its new PET bottle with a glued-in handle, KHS is moving closer towards a circular economy in this regard – and with this system, it wishes to address manufacturers of home care products and food producers. “We provide a circular container whose bottle body and handle consist of 100% recyclate and are fully recyclable. This is still fairly unusual for containers with an integral grip,” emphasizes Wenderdel. As PET is the plastic with the highest recycling rate worldwide, it is also more readily available on the market than materials such as HDPE or PP. These also have the disadvantage that, unlike rPET, they are not yet circular. “The growing demand for environmentally-friendly packaging and stricter legal requirements governing the use of recycled plastics are perfectly met by our latest development,” Wenderdel concludes. 

Secret code of packaging – its pack-aging