Krones’ ShoulderFlex bottle has won a German Packaging Prize in the sustainability category, with the product’s extremely low weight – at just 5.9 grams – the deciding factor for this year’s jury.
ShoulderFlex is said to make a crucial contribution towards reducing the carbon footprint of water bottlers by yielding material savings of up to 50 per cent, compared to conventional 0.5L water bottles on the market.
“One of the key messages in Krones’ vision is the responsible use of packaging materials. And that includes developing sustainable packaging solutions that are not only resource-economical, but also practicable,” said Martin Loistl and Jochen Forsthovel, both members of the development team.
“Despite the smaller amounts of PET needed to produce them, these containers are in no way inferior to conventional bottles currently on the market, as far as stability and convenience are concerned.”
Krones’ bottle design can be used to make containers that are sustainable and weigh very little, but its advantages are also apparent during the bottle production and processing stages, the company said.
Krones said the bottles have "excellent stackability", even without the stabilising effect of nitrogen pressurisation, with a filled top-load of up to 40kg.
