New high-speed canning line starts production at Coca-Cola Enterprises Sidcup
Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) has pushed the button on a new 16.6m high-speed canning line at its Sidcup site.
The investment, which forms part of a £41m injection by CCE into manufacturing upgrades and facility developments at Sidcup over the past five years, will increase on-site production with the line’s capacity increasing from 57,600 cans per hour (cph) to 110,000cph.
The new high-speed line, replacing an older line on-site, is CCE’s only multi-formatted line in Great Britain (GB) designed to produce both the 150ml mini cans and 250ml slim line cans.
As well as increased production capacity, the newline will bring a number of sustainability benefits for the site. Most significantly, a 20 per cent reduction in water usage as a result of new air powered can rinsers, which have replaced the water rinsers along the line. The investment also allows Sidcup to remain CCE’s only site in GB capable of producing 150ml cans, resulting in a 330 tonne CO2 saving due to more efficient line design.
Further sustainability savings have been achieved on-site through investment in shrink packers, changing the ovens used in the packing process from electric to gas, as well as introducing an energy saving kit and automatic roller shutter doors. As gas ovens consume less CO2, this change has resulted in a significant reduction in on-site emissions - around 1,243 tonnes per year. The new ovens are currently installed on four of Sidcup’s production lines, including the new high-speed canning line.
Other major investments have included the installation of a £14.6m high tech canning line for 330ml can production with the capability to operate at 2,000 cans per minute and a £4.7m investment on the 500ml PET production line which includes pre-labelling and is highly energy efficient.
Trevor Newman, Operations Director at Coca-Cola Enterprises Sidcup, says: “We are proud to be a truly local business, both through our workforce and support for the local economy and wider community. Our on-going investment forms a crucial part of our strategy to continue to grow the business, while remaining as sustainable and environmentally efficient as possible as we work towards the ultimate goal of reducing the carbon footprint of the drink in the consumers’ hand by 2020.”
In 2013, Sidcup became the first site in GB to implement full production of 500ml formats in lightweight 19.9g bottles (8 per cent lighter). Saving an estimated 5.2m tonnes of CO2 per year through reduced PET levels and lower transportation costs. The site now solely produces lightweight 500ml formats for a number of products across the Coca-Cola portfolio, including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Coca-Cola Life, as well as Fanta, Sprite, Dr. Pepper and Lilt.
Committed to the development of young people within the sector, the site also continues to run an apprenticeship programme and support the GB Supply Chain Graduate Programme.
