Coca-Cola Amatil unveils $35 million investment in bottle self-manufacture

The Hon. Michael Atkinson MP member for Croydon and managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) Australia, Warwick White, officially opened two new "blowfill" lines at the company's Thebarton production facility in Adelaide on Mon., Oct. 10, 2011.

"Blowfill" technology represents a $35 million investment in CCA's South Australian operation, and enables CCA to design and manufacture its own PET beverage bottles using less raw materials.

Speaking at today's event Mr White said that "blowfill" technology is the single largest capital investment in CCA's history and will fundamentally change the nature of manufacturing in the business.

"The introduction of this technology has enabled us to redesign and lightweight our entire small carbonated soft drink and water PET bottle range. With innovation comes benefits which, in this case, are good for CCA, our customers and the communities we operate in. They include significant cost savings, production efficiency gains, increased product shelf life and stacking ability.

"Blowfill is also delivering against our key environmental sustainability goals in both energy and water savings and is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of our beverage containers by over 20 percent. A significant portion of these savings will come from bottle redesigns that use less PET resin, with others from the elimination of the need to transport empty bottles to CCA bottling facilities, and energy savings on the line. This investment continues our lightweighting journey—a journey which has already seen CCA achieve a 20 percent increase in packaging raw material efficiency since 2004," Mr White said.

At a group level, CCA has committed to spending approximately $450 million to install "blowfill" technology at all of the company's production facilities in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. The completion of works at Thebarton mark the company's largest single investment in the technology to date.

CCA's Thebarton facility has been home to the production of Coca-Cola in South Australia since it opened in 1952 and today, Coca-Cola Amatil employs approximately 450 South Australians.

Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) investment in "Blowfill" technology

• CCA's group-wide $450 million investment in "blowfill" technology—or bottle self-manufacture—is the largest infrastructure investment for the company in a decade.

• "Blowfill" technology is being installed across CCA's production facilities in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

• "Blowfill" technology has enabled CCA to redesign and lightweight its entire small carbonated soft drink and water PET bottle range, delivering significant cost savings, production efficiency gains, increased product shelf life and stacking ability.

• "Blowfill" is delivering against key environmental sustainability goals in both energy and water savings as it has enables CCA to produce PET bottles using less resin, with lighter labels, and shorter, redesigned closures/caps that are without a liner.

• The change in production process will lead to a reduction in the use of paperboard and shrink plastic in secondary packaging, significant savings in water use as the "blowfill" bottles do not need to be rinsed prior to filling, and the future capacity to save energy in the "blowing" of the preforms into bottles by introducing low-pressure blowing.

• "Blowfill" technology is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of CCA's beverage containers by more than 20 percent, with a significant portion of these savings coming from bottle redesigns that use less PET resin, but also from the elimination of the need to transport empty bottles to CCA bottling facilities, and energy savings on the line.

• A 2011 Masters study of "blowfill" technology at CCA's Northmead, Sydney site—the first site to introduce "blowfill"—found that the technology has delivered a remarkable 22 percent reduction in the carbon footprint for every beverage container, based on an average 600mL bottle size (source: Martina Birk, MSc Thesis "Case study—Coca-Cola Amatil, Australia: Comparison of carbon footprint converter model v blow-fill technology for PET bottles," August 2011). This is equivalent to 1,700 cars being removed from the roads per year.

Ms Birks' study found that the most significant carbon savings are delivered by:

• Using 15 to 23 percent less PET resin in all bottle manufacture.

• Using 33 percent less PET resin in closures (or caps).

• Using 30 percent less energy used to "blow" the preforms into bottles.

• Eliminating use of the warmer (the new technology enables bottles to be filled at room temperature).

• Reducing the transportation of bottles from suppliers.

• CCA estimates that more than 9,000 tonnes of PET resin will be saved per year when all production lines have installed "blowfill" technology.

• "Blowfill" continues CCA's lightweighting journey, a journey that has already seen CCA achieve a 20 percent increase in raw material efficiency since 2004 when 1 tonne of PET resin produced 38,000 bottles compared to the 46,500 today.

Thebarton

• The $35 million investment in CCA's Thebarton production facility is the Company's largest investment to date in "blowfill" technology.

• The Thebarton facility has been home to the production of Coca-Cola in South Australia since it opened in 1952 and today, it produces the full CCA range of beverages including brands under licence from The Coca-Cola Company (major brands include Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Glaceau vitamin water, Powerade Isotonic, Mother energy drink), along with CCA-owned brands.

• The Thebarton facility produces approximately 110 million PET bottles a year.

• Coca-Cola Amatil employs 450 South Australians with the Thebarton facility being the main workplace for 240 employees.

Source: Coca-Cola Amatil

.