PET bottle design: Aesthetics + Moldability

HOW a selling PET bottle design differ from a good one? It goes to the very heart of the consumer, creates an emotional connection and encourages a purchase. It is very important for a manufacturing company to understand what its target audience wants. After all, these are consumer demand and expectations that set trends. What are these trends today?

The new decade in the field of design is tightly linked to the modern trends. The major one is the changes themselves. And the changes are very intense. It is no longer necessary to talk about sustainable design or redesign every 5-7 years, as it used to be. The world is changing so rapidly that someone who is not ready to make a step forward makes two steps back. One of the new design trends is relevant not only for PET bottles, but also for the equipment that produces these bottles. Everything is changing, including the criteria by which blow molding equipment is selected.

In 2016, the automatic blow molding machine APF-Max was released: the 4th generation of automatic machines produced by PET Technologies. But for the new construction and implementation of all relevant technical solutions, much attention was paid to the new design of the machine. We all understand that blow molding machines, as well as product packaging, should among other things have an attractive appearance, and therefore a modern design.

Indeed, the design is reflected not only in the appearance of the packaging, but also in the blow molding equipment applied to create it. Consumers are becoming more demanding. According to Google, searches with the words “best” and “right now” have grown by 125% over the past two years. This trend is also relevant for PET packaging.

‘Nostradamus of the design world’ the Dutch designer Lee Edelcourt, who has helped brands like Prada, Zara and Coca-Cola predict customer desires for more than four decades, says a new trend will emerge by 2025, which she calls a ‘fusion of all contrasts’: totally different properties will be combined in one object. If we talk about packaging, it should be both beauty and premium quality, and, at the same time, affordability. Bright, memorable taste and, at the same time, sustainability.

As people become more aware of their impact on the environment, there is a shift towards conscious consumption. Minimalism and the consumption of goods that are really necessary for comfortable existence have come into fashion. Thus, it is important to put emphasis on beneficial properties of product both for the human body and for the ecosystem as a whole, when positioning and advertising it today. Eco-design is becoming the main principle of consumer culture in all its segments. What do we mean by eco-design in PET packaging? This includes packaging made from recycled plastic, using a low weight preform. And, at the same time, it can be a purely visual effect – the use of natural shades in the packaging and natural decorative elements. The idea of the need to use everything natural is so deeply rooted in our subconscious that such products will be in much greater demand.

Today there is a strong trend towards the use of recycled PET (rPET) due to the increased demand for it. If recycling processes improve and the quality of materials improves, by 2030, recycled PET will account for up to 55% of total PET demand in Europe. (* according to the consulting company Eunomia).

According to the latest trends, Coca-Cola and Nestle are actively switching to the production of plastic bottles from rPET. The transition to 100% rPET by Coca-Cola has already been confirmed in Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway. Over time, smaller companies will also strive to use 100% rPET in production.

PET Technologies keeps up with the times, the equipment works with rPET as efficiently as with conventional raw materials. One of the examples of such cooperation is the project for the supply of the APF-6004 automatic blow molder (6000 bph) for the Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic company (Hawaii, USA). The company bottles the melted water from the volcano and uses a completely recycled PET preform to make the bottle. Returning to the tendency of contrasts to merge. This trend influences both the bottle design and the process of its creation.

Today we are seeing a tendency towards an increase in consumer selectivity. Growingly, several purchases of the same type are replaced by one. And we see statistics about a significant increase in demand for large-volume packaging that replaces several small ones. And this is not only a matter of savings, but also of convenience.

Last but not least, the packaging design feature important to highlight is its portability. More and more products today need portable packaging that can be adapted to the lifestyle on the go. Positioning of the packaging that is convenient for use without interrupting the usual rhythm of life will create a stronger ‘bond’ between the consumer and the brand. It enables the consumer to be ‘here and now’, at a given moment in time.

When developing packaging design, PET Technologies takes into account all global trends and characteristics of the target audience of customers. The design change has a positive impact not only on sales, but also provides substantial savings in raw materials since the task is to optimize the weight of the bottle with its maximum technological effectiveness.