May 8: Another step in Rexam’s plan to produce lightweight aluminium bottles for the European drinks industry in commercial volumes was taken yesterday when a pilot production line was officially started in the UK.
Rexam’s beverage can chief for Europe Tomas Sjolin switched on the bottle finishing line at the company’s Tongwell R&D centre, part of which has been rebranded to show off the bottle’s potential to buyers and designers in the beer and beverage sector.
The premium sector of the 70 billion bottled drinks market in Europe is being targeted for by the Fusion project, the manufacturing process for which has been developed over the past three years. Rexam, the world’s biggest producer of drinks cans, has a parallel project in the US for making high-volume bottles similar to those made in Japan.
