When you utilize plastic product packaging, knowing how to store the bottles before filling will protect you, your product, and your customers.
Plastic bottle storage conditions such as time, temperature, and humidity can impact PET containers. The exposure and age of a sample can also affect the shrinkage, impact properties, and stress crack resistance of the container.
Here is what you need to know about storing your PET plastic bottles:
Storage Time
PET bottles should be used in a first-in-first-out system to limit the time stored. Long-term storage should be accomplished using a sealed polyethylene plastic bag or lined drums, totes, bins,
Gaylord containers, supersacks, or seabulks. The plastic liner will help prevent dust and dirt from entering the bottles and affecting contents.
Storage Temperature
Elevated storage temperatures (above 100°F/38°C) allow empty PET bottles to further shrink, mainly due to the relaxation of the oriented and partially oriented regions of the bottle. Extreme temperature conditions (above 131°F/55°C) can cause severe distortion of the amorphous areas of the bottle, including the finish and neck. Moderate storage temperature should be provided to ensure consistent bottle dimensions and properties.
Surface Contamination
The storage area should be kept clean, dry, dust, odor, insect, and rodent-free. It should also be approved for food storage. Do not store PET bottles in direct sunlight. Aromatic materials such as spices, solvents, ink, cleaning supplies, and disinfectants should not be stored in the same area as PET bottles.
Shipping Conditions
It is recommended, when empty, that PET bottles are shipped to or through areas where outdoor temperatures may exceed 90°F/32°C, a temperature-controlled container or trailer capable of maintaining a temperature of 80°F/27°C or lower be used.
If you have any questions on storage instructions and recommendations, call us at 610-367-5000.
The information and recommendations in this article are believed to be correct. However, no guarantee or warranty of any kind, express or implied, is made as to such information contained herein, including any warranty of fitness or merchantability, and Drug Plastics assumes no responsibilities for the results of use of the information described herein.
