Clear benefits for aseptics

With KHS supreme, the KHS Group is taking the protection of oxygen sensitive beverages up to the next level. The innovative system combines the benefits of glass with the handleability of PET by applying Plasmax barrier technology.

KHS makes use of its tried and tested Plasmax barrier technology, a wafer thin, transparent layer of silicon oxide that coats the inside wall of PET bottles like glass. Less than 100 nanometres thick, it reliably protects the sensitive bottle content from oxidation, retaining its taste, colour and quality for lengthy periods of time. This helps to make the product last up to ten times longer.

Plasmax technology, which the company has been successfully using for over 20 years, is being continuously further developed at its Hamburg factory. This site is its competence centre for PET, with the team’s pooled expertise directly incorporated into every single innovation to support customers worldwide with the development of pioneering packaging systems.

‘Our barrier system is ideal for premium products such as green tea that is extremely quality sensitive and has to satisfy the highest requirements on markets such as Asia,’ explained Philipp Langhammer, product manager for barrier technology. Tea oxidizes easily, leading to unwanted changes in colour and taste. The glass barrier prevents this, making for long shelf lives, freshness and safety.

This technology, originally developed for pharmaceutical glass containers, is based on many years of research and process optimisation. The first Plasmax systems were piloted in the food sector back in the early 2000s. Since then, KHS has further developed its Plasmax barrier and this year scaled it up to industrial production speeds of up to 60,000 bottles per hour – without any detriment to its protective properties.

Besides its technical precision, the barrier is also convincing with respect to its environmental friendliness. One major advantage of Plasmax technology is that it is completely recyclable: the glass coating is removed by caustic during the recycling process without affecting the quality of the material. Unlike chemical scavenger technologies that make recycling more difficult, here, the purity of the separated PET is maintained. The coating is also fully compatible with 100% rPET: this means that it can be recycled and applied to recycled PET containers. ‘We thus refer to this as a fully circular barrier technology,’ said Philipp. ‘Our style of packaging combines all the benefits: top barrier performance and full recyclability.’

KHS will be presenting its pioneering system at interpack in Düsseldorf, Germany, from May 7 to 13 in hall 13, stand A31.