Graham Packaging Company, L.P., has introduced the first clear PET (polyethylene terephthalate) multilayer plastic jar with a wide-mouth finish and barrier properties suitable for hot-packed food products such as pasta sauces, salsas, fruits, and other popular hot-fill products. Products such as these previously were available only in glass because of the need to prevent oxygen ingress. The new container also works well in protecting dry-packed or cold-processed products that are oxygen sensitive.

"The market potential of our multilayer container is spurred by consumer desire for clear, light-weight, non-breakable packaging and also by the opportunity for manufacturing and distribution savings," said Paul Bailie, vice president and business manager for food packaging at Graham Packaging. "Our multilayer design allows us to provide the lightest-weight jar that enables the longest shelf life." The container increases shelf life beyond 12 months, up to 18 months with certain products.

The package combines two proprietary technologies: Graham Packaging's SurShot(TM: 110.81, -2.44, -2.15%) multilayer technology and the company's jar blow-molding technology, both employed in the packaging industry for more than 10 years. Bailie said the marriage of these two technologies yields long shelf life and good aesthetics at an affordable cost. The containers can be designed in most configurations, including round, square, rectangular, and specialty shapes, with wide-mouth finishes up to 82 millimeters. The PET jars can be hot-filled in a temperature range of 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit.

The five-layer container ranks high in sustainability. A filler could realize an 87 percent weight reduction on an order of 50 million jars annually compared to glass. That would eliminate the equivalent of 962 truckloads per year at an annual savings of close to $700,000. The container includes post- consumer and post-industrial recycled materials, and the oxygen barrier material can be separated from the PET in the recycling process and taken out of the recycling stream. The SurShot(TM: 110.81, -2.44, -2.15%) multilayer barrier system has been recognized as recyclable by PET Container Recycling Europe (PETCORE).

Graham Packaging is based in York, Pennsylvania, and is a worldwide leader in technology-based, customized blow-molded plastic containers for the branded food and beverage, household, personal care/specialty, and automotive lubricants product categories. The company produces more than 20 billion container units at 85 manufacturing plants in North America, Europe and South America and had sales of $2.52 billion in 2006.

Graham Packaging is a leading U.S. supplier of plastic containers for hot- fill juice and juice drinks, sports drinks, drinkable yogurt and smoothies, nutritional supplements, wide-mouth food, dressings, condiments, and beers; the leading global supplier of plastic containers for yogurt drinks; the leading supplier of plastic containers for liquid laundry detergent; and the number-one supplier in the U.S., Canada and Brazil of one-quart/one-liter plastic HDPE (high-density polyethylene) containers for motor oil.

The Blackstone Group of New York is the majority owner of Graham Packaging.