Sterilisation technology of PET bottles for UHT milk allowed weight reduction of bottles by 20 per cent as well as making drastic savings in chemicals and waters FOR the first time, a dairy company is launching a PET bottle for UHT milk using dry decontamination technology that sanitises not the bottles, but the preforms. Packaging milk poses its own challenges since light, microbes and air easily destroy the product. Dry decontaminated PET bottles have now proven an ideal packaging solution for the French dairy company LSDH to combat these problems in an eco- friendly way. The technology has also allowed LSDH to reduce the weight of its bottles by 20 per cent as well as making drastic savings in chemicals and waters. Operations just started in summer 2009. The company, which is headquartered 150 kilometres south of Paris, has recently installed a new Sidel milk packaging line including the novel dry decontamination system "Predis"?a first for sensitive beverages with neutral pH value. The new line is used for part-skim, skim and whole milk in 1- and 1.5- liter bottles with a product shelf life of three to four months at room temperature. 'The vital difference between this system and traditional processes is that the new technology works by decontaminating not the bottles, but the preforms' Dry decontamination of preforms and caps Unique in the world and already sold in 30 models for all applications, Sidel's Predis system is used to sterilise the PET preforms instead of the bottles. The principle is based on depositing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) vapour on the inner walls of the preforms via condensation. The preforms are heated to more than 100癈 in the oven, where heat treatment performance and process stability ensure H2O2 activation and completely safe production: 100% of blown bottles are produced from decontaminated preforms. Advantages are numerous: no water consumption (200-300 m3 of water savings per day, with respect to traditional solutions), little chemical usage (savings of 150-200 L per day), and no liquid effluents and no rinser needed. The low H2O2 concentration and the reduced use of preservatives not only optimise the product's organoleptic quality but also help improve brand image, by highlighting a more natural product. The product also has better quality on the best-by date, which means that the useby date can be extended. At LSDH, the key element of the new line, the "Combi Predis Fma", is a compact machine for blow-moulding bottles, filling and capping them, specifically for sensitive products under aseptic conditions. This thorough decontamination makes it possible to increase product quality and shelf life and to ensure total food safety until the expiry date. The process uses only a small amount of chemicals and virtually no water. Additional benefits of the new dairy system are fast output rates and the system's flexibility, which is particularly important when products have to be changed frequently. LSDH carries out product changes three or four times a week on the same line, which runs 24 hours a day, six days a week, in order to bottle short runs and promotional products. Environmental benefits are key Emmanuel Vasseneix, LSDH chief executive officer, said that it was mainly environmental considerations that swayed the company's decision in favour of the Predis system. "You have to look ahead to the company's future responsibilities, both to society and to the environment. The dry decontamination system consumes very little disinfectant and it reduces water consumption to next to nothing. It also allowed us to reduce the bottle weight from 28 to 24 grams," Vasseneix explained.
Traditionally LSDH had used opaque HDPE and, later, paperboard on Tetra Pak lines for packing its milk. The company started PET packaging for milk
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