Glass container producer Ardagh UK has reduced the weight of the 330ml Coca Cola bottle with the launch of a new 190g bottle.
Ardagh has added a series of incremental design improvements since 2005 that have reduced the bottle’s weight from 240g.
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During the lightweighting process, the company was able to retain the bottle’s trademark dimensions, and maintain strength while improving environmental performance.
The lightweighting also includes 330ml Sprite and Fanta bottles, in addition to the smaller 200ml Coca Cola bottle.
In 2002, the weight of the 200ml bottle was 170g. This has been reduced in three stages to 140g.
Ardagh Group glass design manager Carsten Berkau said that the company focuses on continuing the lightweighting process through design and manufacturing techniques.
"Our task is to keep the brand shape, whilst determining the stress points and the optimum weight of a glass bottle. State-of-the-art technology ensures that when we are challenged, we can respond with even greater precision," Berkau added.
Ardagh and Coca Cola are also working on various other sustainability projects in an effort to reduce energy and CO2 emissions.
Ardagh installed heat exchangers in a pilot project at its Dongen glass plant in the Netherlands to enable the transfer of recovered energy in the form of hot water from the plant to Coca Cola’s nearby bottling plant.
Image: Ardagh has reduced the weight of the 330ml Coca Cola bottle. Photo: courtesy of Ardagh Group.
