Packaging

Milk on the light side

Lightest half-liter polystyrene bottle in the world

Monday 23. February 2009 - Lightest half-liter polystyrene bottle in the world

An innovation project has paved the way to BASF’s success in using a conven­tional stretch blow-molding machine to create the lightest half-liter polystyrene bottle ever: it weighs a mere 7.5 grams. This project gave BASF the opportunity to see how extremely lightweight bottles for dairy products can be made of polystyrene using stretch blow-molding methods. After all, less weight always translates into lower costs and less consumption of resources. Since poly­styrene has a lower density than PET, it can be used to produce bottles that weigh less but have the same wall thickness. Owing to the special properties of this plastic, BASF recommends the new polystyrene type (PS BX 3580) specifi­cally for containers used for milk products. This is an approach that will be consistently pursued together with customers.