From:packagingnews

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) has begun operating a new £16.6m high-speed canning line at its Sidcup site.

It will increase on-site production from 57,600 cans per hour (cph) to 110,000cph.

The new high-speed line is CCE’s only multi-formatted line in Great Britain designed to produce both the 150ml mini cans and 250ml slim line cans – resulting in a 330 tonne CO2 saving due to more efficient line design.

The soft drinks giant said the new line would also bring a 20% reduction in water usage as a result of new air powered can rinsers, which have replaced the water rinsers along the line.

Further sustainability savings include have new shrink packers, changing the ovens used in the packing process from electric to gas, and introducing an energy saving kit and automatic roller shutter doors.

Gas ovens consume less CO2, which CCE says will save around 1,243 tonnes on-site emissions per year.

Trevor Newman, operations director at CCE Sidcup, said the plant was a responsible local business, recruiting locally and supporting the local economy and wider community.

“Our on-going investment forms a crucial part of our strategy to continue to grow the business, while remaining as sustainable and environmentally efficient as possible as we work towards the ultimate goal of reducing the carbon footprint of the drink in the consumers’ hand by 2020.”

The new line forms part of a £41m investment by CCE into manufacturing upgrades and facility developments at Sidcup over the past five years.

Other major investments have included the installation of a £14.6m high tech canning line for 330ml can production with the capability to operate at 2,000 cans per minute, and a £4.7m investment on the 500ml PET production line which includes pre-labelling and is highly energy efficient.

In 2013, Sidcup became the first site in GB to implement full production of 500ml formats in lightweight 19.9g bottles (8% lighter).