CHICAGO (June 27, 11:50 a.m. EDT) — Aoki Technical Laboratory Inc. can claim bragging rights to two firsts at NPE.
The Nagano, Japan, blow molding machinery company has a machine that can make PET containers from 100 percent post-consumer flake; and the 90-liter recycling bin it displayed at the show could be the largest injection stretch blow molded container in the world, according to Minoru Okubo, Aoki's general manager of sales and marketing.
However, the machine that molds those whopper containers — the Aoki 3000H-60 — was not displayed in McCormick Place because the company said it is too large. Instead, the company showed the SBIII-500-150 and the Aoki-250-LL.
The former demonstrated Aoki's advances in producing wide-mouth PET mayonnaise jars, and the latter is a barrel-type molding machine especially for molding conatiners from 100 percent post-consumer PET bottle flake.
Okubo said Aoki wants to show users of so-called two-step machines the cost- and energy-saving features of its technology.
"The process requires transport, storage and energy to reheat the preform," Okubo said. "We are introducing to our customers who are using two-stage machines that this material can be processed easily without using a dryer."
A degassing unit that eliminates moisture from the melt eliminates the need for a separate dryer.
The machine was introduced to Japan in April, just as the country's Container and Packaging Recycling Law came into effect.
"Based on this timing, Aoki built a special machine for this requirement," he said.
With about $200 million in global sales, Aoki has sold more than 1,500 machines to 65 different countries. The company's North American offices are in Elk Grove, Ill.
