From resealable aluminum bottles to beverage can printing technology, Ball knows how to play the game.
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| From
resealable aluminum bottles to beverage can printing technology, Ball knows how
to play the game. |
|
For
more than 125 years, Ball has been a leader in food and beverage package
manufacturing. Using aluminum, steel, polypropylene, high-density polyethylene
and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Ball’s packaging provides an economical
way to protect products, allow sufficient shelf life, communicate product
information and safely transport and store products in a variety of
environments. All are lightweight, recyclable and use recycled content as much
as technically and economically feasible. As a result, Ball’s packaging
products are well positioned as the focus on sustainability increases.
Some
of Ball’s most exciting packaging innovations include:
Alumi-Tek reclosable aluminum
bottle: Launched last summer for Caribou Coffee’s
ready-to-drink iced coffee products, this aluminum bottle is ideal for a
variety of beverages, including alcoholic beverages, juices, teas, energy
drinks and dairy-based beverages. It features a 38-millimeter roll-on
pilfer-proof (ROPP) screw cap closure, adding reclosability to all the
benefits of the standard aluminum can.
Eyeris enhanced beverage can printing:
Eyeris, Ball’s proprietary enhanced printing technology, brings improved
definition and fine detail to beverage can graphics, creating premium on-shelf
differentiation. The process uses up to six colors, is available for any of
Ball’s 18 beverage can sizes and is compatible with all filling processes,
including retort. Jones Soda brought this innovation to market in Sept. 2007.
Aergo steel aerosol can
shaping: Ball’s new, proprietary tinplate-shaped aerosol
package allows up to a 30% expansion beyond the straight-walled diameter,
creating a world of custom possibilities. Aergo launched last summer with
PAM High Heat cooking spray from ConAgra.
Gamma-Clear oriented
polypropylene food jars: Ball’s patented Gamma-Clear
technology provides the clarity and consumer benefits of glass in a
lightweight, shatterproof container that can be filled at temperatures up to
205º F.
PET
bottles for wine: Ball provides 187-milliliter and 750ml PET
bottles for wine. Its premium, glass-look bottles are lightweight and
unbreakable. The bottles feature KHS Plasmax, a commercially proven,
transparent, internal silicon oxide barrier coating that protects the wine
inside the bottle and is easily removed during the PET recycling process. Ball
is the only PET bottle manufacturer to offer Plasmax barrier coating technology
in North America.
SmoothPour
vented beverage can ends: This modified aluminum beverage
can end features a large opening and a vent tube which directs airflow into the
can to deliver a smoother pour and improved drinking experience. Coors introduced
the can end in April.
Fusion-Tek
steel microwavable food can: This can provides consumers the
ease of a microwave-safe container along with the durability and strength of
traditional food cans, which do not heat in the microwave because microwave
energy cannot pass through steel. Ball has developed a proprietary technology
to join metal and plastic, making it possible to manufacture a steel food
can with a plastic end. The end creates a channel for microwave
energy to pass through the can, heating the product inside quickly and evenly.
F&BP
