Graham Packaging Company, L.P., today announced the development of a new, proprietary blow-molding technology that allows it to make lighter weight PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles without changing design or sacrificing any performance characteristics.

"This special molding process in effect distributes the plastic where it's needed and removes it where it's not needed," said Toshi Kojitani, director of Graham Packaging's PET product line. "The bottom line is that we're achieving overall light-weighting without any loss of physical function."

Graham Packaging started the development of the new technology two years ago and hastened the effort with the precipitous rise in resin prices that occurred last year. The first actual product to emerge from development will be a multi-serve hot-fill bottle. Kojitani said the bottle will be blown in the same mold used for the current, heavier version of the same size bottle. This technology will eventually be rolled out to the entire family of PET hot-fill bottles.

"The new bottle has exactly the same look, height, diameter, and footprint as the current version," he said. "Our tests and a trial run on a customer's filling line demonstrate that there's no difference in performance from the current container." Ashok Sudan, executive vice president of Graham Packaging, said, "Easy drop-in is a prime consideration. By that we mean that it's very important to provide customers with a new generation bottle without disturbing their brand image or filling line set-up."

Sudan noted that the evolution of PET bottles has consistently gone in the direction of lighter weight. "We knew we had to keep breaking new ground in order to satisfy our customers' needs," he said. "We have approached a number of customers with the new technology and their response has been enthusiastic."

Graham Packaging, based in York, is a worldwide leader in technology- based, customized blow-molded plastic containers for the branded food and beverage, household, personal care and specialty.