Filling and packaging specialist KHS GmbH has developed its lightest-yet 0.5-litre PET beer bottle with the help of a lightweighting program called Bottles & Shapes.
The company claims the PET bottle is much lighter than its predecessor, weighing 1.6 grams less at just 20.9 grams.
KHS was able to save on materials in both the bottle body and thread by making the neck ring much smaller and reducing the wall thickness in the neck and thread.
Optimising the thread did not affect the fitting accuracy, according to the company.
The bottle was made at the request of a German brewery, which wanted a lighter PET bottle for its malt beer.
KHS was able to save 1.5 grams compared to previous bottles the company had used, and the weight had dropped from 24 to 22.5 grams.
The weight-optimised bottles were extensively tested in laboratory and production tests.
