Sipa unveils lightweight ‘giant’ water bottles
Plastic bottle manufacturer Sipa has designed lightweight giant water bottles with, what it calls, simple-to-recycle handles
According to Sipa, with the US market for five-gallon water cooler bottles “in a state of upheaval”, Sipa had developed a lightweight BPA-free bottle.
According to the firm, since their introduction in the 1980’s polycarbonate cooler bottles have come to dominate the market, thanks to their combination of excellent mechanical properties, low weight and high clarity.
However, over the last few years, there has been a very public debate about the possible health risks from residual BPA in polycarbonate bottles of all sizes – small baby bottles in particular, but also large water bottles, according to Sipa.
In a statement, the firm said: “Not surprisingly, many producers and users of five-gallon water bottles are now looking for BPA-free alternatives to polycarbonate (even though there is no legal requirement yet for them to do so). PET is one of these possible alternatives, and in fact some five-gallon bottles made in PET have been on the market for several years now.
“ The new version has a special PET handle in place of the polypropylene one, so when the time comes for recycling, there is no need to separate the two parts, simplifying the procedure and cutting costs.”