Yes We Can: Sidcup goes high-speed thanks to Coca Cola Enterprises

The initiative cost £16.6m and forms part of a £41m investment in the plant, which has taken place of over the past five years.  

The injection of capital by CCE has facilitated manufacturing upgrades and facility developments at Sidcup that will increase the line’s capacity from 57,600 cans per hour to 110,000.

The upgrades will improve both efficiency and sustainability, as well as reducing carbon emissions. 

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One of the most significant achievements is the reduction of water usage by 20% as a result of new air powered can rinsers, which have replaced the water rinsers along the line.

Trevor Newman, Operations Director at Coca-Cola Enterprises Sidcup, said: “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.”

The new high-speed line, replacing an older line on-site, is CCE’s only multi-formatted line in Great Britain designed to produce both the 150ml mini cans and 250ml slim line cans.

The investment allows Sidcup to remain CCE’s only site in the country 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 features pre-labelling and is highly energy efficient.