KHS has expanded its Innopack Kisters TSP Advanced packaging machine with a new cardboard-based multipack option – the BottleClip Carrier – designed to bundle PET bottles without the use of plastic. The machine, part of the company’s Innopack Kisters Advanced series, already handles beverage cans and PET and glass bottles on trays and pads and in film.
The BottleClip Carrier clips a cardboard carrier onto PET bottles using a rotating application wheel in continuous operation, eliminating the need for a shrink tunnel and the energy it consumes. Users can choose between pack sizes of two, four, six or eight bottles, and variety packs are also available. The machine is said to produce up to 4,800 packs per hour. Bottles made of virgin PET or up to 100% recyclate can be processed, as can lightweight containers.
According to the Dortmund-based company, the option is intended as an alternative to plastic handle variants, which face growing regulatory pressure in several markets. “Lots of countries already have strict quotas in place governing recycling and the use of recyclate,” said Johannes Look, team leader of custom design at the KHS competence center in Kleve, Germany. “Some states even impose a total ban on certain types of packaging such as plastic carrying rings.” Look added that energy and raw material costs make the cardboard option particularly relevant to customers.
The BottleClip Carrier module is available for all standard new machines in the Advanced series. Where technical requirements are met, existing machines can also be retrofitted. Format changeovers between packaging varieties are operator-prompted and said to take only a few minutes. Partly automated tool changeovers are designed to minimize manual effort, with the packer moving to an ergonomic position independently so the operator can make adjustments with few manual steps. Cardboard blanks are loaded into a magazine without requiring the operator to bend. Once loaded, the machine sets itself up automatically.
KHS said demand for plastic-free packaging alternatives has grown in recent years, with the first Innopack Kisters TSP Advanced unit with the BottleClip Carrier option set to be delivered to the United States later this year.