line improvement from sidel achieves 18 saving in energy consumption for pet water line at world&rsquos largest distillery a line improvement programme undertaken by sidel at japan&rsquos kirin distillery has resulted in a substantial saving in the use of electrical energy. sidel, the leading global provider of pet solutions for liquid packaging, carried out a modular upgrade of the production line and fitted its eco lamps to the blow moulder on the water line at the distillery, providing a balance of cost and sustainability benefits. sustainable production an increasing focus the whisky distillery, which currently holds the record for being the world&rsquos largest, is located in the town of gotemba at the foot of japan&rsquos iconic mount fuji. the site was selected because it was felt that gotemba has a climate most like that of scotland, the birthplace of whisky. with an average annual temperature of only 13°c, it is cooler and more humid than other parts of japan especially in summer. the kirin facility is one of 10 whisky distilleries in japan and its production water is taken directly from underground streams flowing beneath the mountain. unlike most other whisky distilleries throughout the world, the kirin distillery undertakes every production process, from mashing to bottling, onsite. it covers a massive 520,000m2 and has an annual production capacity of 12 million litres of four types of whiskies comprising one malt and three grain whiskies. recognising the opportunities that the underground streams provide for also marketing bottled water, in 1999 kirin installed a dedicated sidel pet bottle blowing line and it is this line on which the modular upgrade has been completed. with the increasing environmental consciousness of consumers, sustainable packaging and the renewability of water sources are important factors in the bottled water market. in 2013 total volume sales of bottled water in japan grew by 4 to reach 4.4 billion litres. from 2013 to 2018, the total market for bottled water in the country is forecast to grow by a cagr compound annual growth rate of 0.7 in value terms, with still bottled water increasing by 0.3 cagr. the project manager at the kirin distillery says &ldquokirin selected sidel&39s eco lamps to be fitted to its existing pet water line in its continuous search for greater sustainability and cost effectiveness. the lamps have generated substantial energy savings and have also brought the benefits of improved process stability and optimised production output.&rdquo more than 7,000 sidel eco lamps worldwide there is a growing need within the beverage industry to balance economic performance with environmental concerns and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is an integral part of the process. with the heating lamps used to produce preforms accounting for 9095 of the electricity used by a blow moulder, sidel eco lamps have been developed based on a seemingly simple concept that addresses these concerns. since their launch in 2008, sidel&39s eco lamps have been meeting customers&39 requirements providing an effective solution which is easy to install. available as a modular upgrade of beverage production lines on both the sidel sbo series 1 and series 2 blowers, eco lamps generally result in energy savings of around 15. in some cases, installation requires no modification to either the existing oven or the blowing process. as well as reducing energy consumption, sidel&39s eco lamps are robust and have a life expectancy of 5,000 hours. moriyasu uchibori, lead customer service manager of sidel, japan, explains &ldquowith electricity costs still rising globally and the growing drive to reduce co2 emissions, producers around the world are looking to optimise productivity and minimise the total cost of ownership on all their lines. in a typical line, preform heating lamps are clearly an area with potential for greater energy efficiency. sidel&rsquos eco lamps represent one way in which both energy and money can be saved.&rdquo line improvement is one part of the sidel services&trade portfolio, which also includes training, maintenance, spare parts & logistics, line conversions & moulds, and packaging. further details are available by visiting sidel.comservices or by emailing services@sidel.com. about kirin distillery japan the kirin distillery was founded at the height of the japanese whisky industry by a multinational corporate collaboration in 1973. the cooperative consisted of seagrams of canada, chivas brothers of scotland, four roses distillery of america and japan&rsquos kirin brewery company. it came under the sole ownership of kirin in 2002. editors note the images within this document are for illustrative purposes only and should not be used for reproduction. if high resolution copies are not attached with the document, please contact chris twigger at shaw & underwood pr for copies &ndash see contact details below. for editorial and advertising enquiries, please contact shaw & underwood pr chris twigger, director tel 44 121 454 5584cell 44 7795 423796 email christwigger@shawandunderwood.co.uk &emsp
