Al Ain Mineral Water Company, a leading bottled water company in the UAE and fully owned entity of Abu Dhabi based food and beverage company AGTHIA Group announced that it has successfully integrated breakthrough ThermoShape lightweight hot-fill technology into its production lines. The first ThermoShape integrated high speed blow and fill complete packaging line in the world went into commercial operation this month at Al Ain Mineral Water Company. The line was designed, commissioned and installed by Plastipak Packaging, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Plastipak Holdings Inc.
 Commenting on the announcement, Agthia CEO Ilias Assimakopoulos said: "Al Ain Water's investment in the new first-class ThermoShape technology will enable Agthia to advance further in line with our product diversification strategy. In addition, this investment is an added confirmation of our commitment to continuously deliver innovative high quality products to our customers." US-based Plastipak is a world leader in the design and manufacture of plastic containers for the food, beverage, and consumer products industries. The company operates more than twenty plants in the United States, South America and Europe. Al Ain Water General Manager Fasahat Beg said: "This investment will enable us to enter the value-added beverage segments such as sports drinks and juices, while using at least 30% less PET than the existing 'hot fill' bottling lines in the market. This in turn means delivery on both cost and energy savings for the company and further demonstrates our corporate social responsibility commitment towards reducing our environmental impact." Bottles produced and filled using the ThermoShape process have slightly positive internal pressure, providing superior vertical load resistance for packaging and distribution. Using Plastipak's patented technology, ThermoShape bottles can achieve shelf life of up to 12 months at ambient temperature without bottle deformation due to standard loss of oxygen in the bottle headspace and water loss through bottle PET walls. The line was designed, commissioned, and installed by Plastipak, and features globally patented, in-line heat-based reshaping of bottles after they are hot-filled. Plastipak’s Director of Technology Integration Jean-Guy Delage said: “We are proud to partner with Agthia and Al Ain Water in the first commercialization of our ThermoShape technology. ThermoShape offers key advantages over alternative packaging options such as glass container hot-filling, PET bottle aseptic filling or the use of preservatives and cold sterilizer for the distribution of non-refrigerated high acid sensitive drinks. It is using low-risk and well-proven hot-filling technology and thus requires less capital investment compared to aseptic filling. It also allows now for the use of lightweight and panel-less PET bottles with full design freedom compared with traditional PET hot-fill bottle, and the System easily fits into a small footprint space allowing for seamless conversion of existing glass or PET bottle hot-fill lines.
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