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Sidel has added a new version to its StarLITE-R range of bottle bases designed specifically for recycled PET (rPET). StarLITE-R Nitro is optimized for nitrogen-dosed products such as still beverages and edible oils in 100% rPET. Nitrogen dosing adds rigidity to ultralight PET bottles filled with still beverages and preserves the shelf life of edible oils by expelling oxygen during filling.

For brand owners looking to distinguish their products with an aesthetically appealing alternative to standard petaloid bases, while maintaining equivalent mechanical performance, StarLITE-R Nitro has a distinctive “wave” base design which is compatible with rPET bottles in any existing shape from 0.2 L to 2.5 L, according to Sidel. The new base is said to be easy to blow and shape, even at speeds up to 2,700 bph per cavity for single-serve formats and 2,500 bph per cavity for multiserve bottles. Optimized design and an efficient venting system that combines grooves with venting holes to permit low blowing pressures of 18 bar (261 psi) for single-serve formats versus a market average of 24 bar (348 psi), a 25% reduction.

The company says the design has undergone stringent testing, including drop tests with no base breakage. This is said to be particularly important for bottles made with rPET, which tends to be more sensitive to breakage. The new Nitro base has eight to 10 waves to withstand internal nitrogen pressure of 0.5 to 0.8 bar (7.25 to 11.6 psi) in a 0.5 L bottle at storage pressures up to 38°C (100.4°F), while also providing a secure standing surface.

The new Nitro base is compatible with Sidel’s range of SBO stretch blowers — series 2, Universal and EvoBLOW — and can easily be retrofitted onto existing production lines and molds, the company says.