Returnable pack boosts beverage sector sustainability

DS Smith Plastics Bilzen has designed a returnable pack which the firm claims can fit inside reusable crates and be stacked without a crate.

The DS Smith Plastics design team in Bilzen, Belgium was tasked with designing a solution to combine returnable crates with returnable packs. The result is Fillbee, a four or six-pack that can be designed for any shape of bottle. The packs fit in beverage crates or can be stacked.

DS Smith said the returnable pack fits into regular returnable crates, so the bottles can be placed directly into baskets on an existing filling line for loose bottles.

“The shelf ready packaging protects the bottles and is easy to take home, easy to store and easy to return empty bottles to the store,” the firm said. “The durable packaging can be stacked when full thanks to the unique feature at the bottom of the pack that prevents direct pressure on the crowns of the bottles to avoid CO² loss. Furthermore, the large, recyclable IML labels allow for easy branding at POS and the application of barcodes to scan the products.”