Report: Lightweighting the drinks can pack
- Date
- September 2008
- Documents
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(5838 kb)
Lightweighting the drinks can: A technical review and recommendations for can packaging
This report demonstrates that through collaborative research, lead by Coca-Cola Enterprises, the current aluminium beverages can pack has the potential to be lightweighted further than the industry initially thought possible. Not only by reducing the gauge of the can and end, but also by modifying the design of the can pack.
The aim of the project was to lightweight the can pack by determining its performance challenges and then evaluating the components of the specification which would meet those challenges.
This partnership with WRAP enabled the can makers in Europe, who belong to a non-profit organisation called Beverage Can Makers Europe (BCME), to conduct rigorous, external testing on behalf of all customers in the carbonated soft drinks and beer sectors. Extreme conditions and real life challenges were created and ‘performance’ measured.
As a direct result of this work, the body specification for the can was lightweighted and internal pressure limits for the end reduced. The various tests also provide clear criteria for lightweighting the can without risking the quality of the pack. Plus the tests indicate that further lightweighting is possible, given the required technical capabilities of the can makers.
