News

Aisapack has developed a new hybrid resealable pack for beverages made from a high-barrier laminate tube fixed to a moulded neck, cap and base.

The Swiss firm said the Aisacan was flexible, shatterproof, reclosable, recyclable and suitable for the hygienic, long-life packaging of all kinds of drinks, including sports drinks, high-acid products such as fruit juices without pulp, and flavoured water products.

Aisapack business development manager Jonathan Shaw said the firm had worked with Pira Consulting in Leatherhead on a lifecycle analysis of the Aisacan. This showed it was 25% lighter than PET, used fewer natural resources in its manufacture, and required 50% less energy to produce and transport than a competing PET bottle with a shrink sleeve.

The firm said the Aisacan could be made using various materials, including a thin aluminium or EVOH layer to produce the look and feel of a can when chilled in a refrigerator.

Shaw said full production, to a maximum capacity of around one million packs a year, would start in the summer.

Belgium-based sports drink manufacturer WCUP tested the pack in football clubs, cycle shops and fitness centres earlier this year and had decided to use it across its production line, he added.

Aisapack has also worked with its co-packer in Bavaria, which made small modifications to its standard PET neck handling filling line to allow it to fill the Aisacan at speeds of 15,000 packs an hour.

Shaw said in the future Aisapack aimed to fill the Aisacan on a range of PET lines for cold filling and aseptic applications.

The patent-pending Aisacan is based on Huhtamaki's Cyclero concept.

Aisapack is a member of the SIH Group, the global engineering firm, which includes packaging production machinery supplier Aisa, blow-moulding specialist Magplastic and Sprimag, the developer of automated coating systems.

The firm is based in Vouvry, Switzerland.