A new exterior coating process for PET bottles developed by Coca-Cola“s German subsidiary and the University of Essen, is claimed to enhance barrier properties and give beverages – beer in particular…
A new exterior coating process for PET bottles developed by Coca-Cola“s German subsidiary and the University of Essen, is claimed to enhance barrier properties and give beverages – beer in particular- a longer shelf life. Carbonation loss and CO2 pick-up are prevented. The patented BESTPET (Barrier Enhanced Silica Treated PET) process has now been upscaled to industrial use in cooperation with German beverage and packaging machinery manufacturer Krones and Leybold Systems. It operates on the PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) technology, using silicon oxide under high vacuum plasma conditions. The new technology enables the continuous in-feed of bottles into the vacuum chamber at speeds of up to 20,000 bottles an hour. The first commercial machine will be installed at a Coca-Cola bottling plant early next year and plans are to make the technology available to all beverage bottlers. Tests conducted with the new coating indicate that the bottles are 100% recyclable, said the machinery manufacturer.