Specialist plastics packaging technology business Petainer has launched an environmentally-friendly, economical, alternative to metal kegs for draught beverages.It is a lightweight beverage container manufactured in recyclable PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate) which is designed for one-way use. The keg is available with one-way, low cost fittings which allow it to be connected to existing tapping systems for draught beer.
Petainer Kegs, unlike other plastic variants and metal kegs, can be supplied either complete and ready for filling or as ‘preforms’ that can be blown near the point of use. This second option provides further environmental and economic benefits.
Petainer Kegs are available in 15, 20, 30 and 40 litre sizes – all with Micro Matic compatible fittings.
Nigel Pritchard, chief executive officer of Petainer, said: “The Petainer Keg offers a significant breakthrough in the sales and marketing of volume beer, wine and other beverages. It opens up new channels and markets and provides a step change in environmental performance – as well as reducing costs and improving cash flow.”
The benefits of Petainer Kegs compared with metal kegs include lower total costs of ownership, reduced environmental impact, new market opportunities and easier response to short-term peaks and troughs in demand.
There are potentially large savings in capital employed by eliminating the need to maintain a ‘fleet’ of metal kegs. Eliminating the fleet can release the substantial sums tied up in this ‘asset’ and end the constant expenditure on replacing damaged, lost or stolen kegs. In addition there is no need to maintain expensive tracking systems.
Key environmental benefits of Petainer Kegs include low material usage, compared to returnable metal kegs and other one-way kegs, and a lightweight construction which reduces supply chain environmental impacts. 20-30 per cent more liquid can be transported on a single vehicle using the 20 litre Petainer Keg than with a standard metal keg.
Petainer Kegs are fully and easily recyclable, meeting all the essential requirements covered by EU regulations, including suitability for both mechanical and ‘energy from waste’ recycling.
Using Petainer Kegs does not just offer substantial benefits to breweries and fillers – there are real benefits to end users as well. One of the biggest benefits is in the reduced storage space needed by the PET kegs. Securely storing empty metal kegs to prevent them being stolen before they are collected is a problem in many outlets. Petainer Kegs, once de-pressurised, can be easily crushed once they are empty and then put into the recycling bin with other recyclable plastics containers.
