Reducing CO₂ Emissions with Latest Aseptic Filling Innovation

March 31, 2025, Aseptic Systems Co., Ltd. (APS), a Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) Group company, has developed and will commence offering a new aseptic filling system. The new system significantly reduces CO₂ emissions from the liquid processing equipment used in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic bottle aseptic filling systems, used to fill beverages in a sterile environment.

APS, who are responsible for the development, sales and maintenance services of Aseptic Filling Systems, have released their latest technology; GREEN ASEPTIC™. A new system that significantly reduces CO₂ emissions from the liquid processing equipment used in PET Bottle Aseptic Filling Systems to fill beverages in a sterile environment.

Image of the newly developed aseptic filling system for PET bottles

Image of aseptic filling system for PET bottles (at left) and preforms (at right)

This new system can reduce energy consumption by approximately 80% (based on a dilution ratio of 5) by replacing a portion of the ultra-high temperature (UHT) sterilization of beverages with a non-thermal sterilization system that combines a sterilizing filter and a medium pressure ultraviolet (UV) lamp. Additionally, by adopting a two-step sterilization system - which sterilizes the preform before it is molded, followed by forming the bottle shape with sterile air - achieves a significant reduction in the amount of chemicals used for bottle sterilization. By combining these two systems, CO₂ emissions are be reduced by approximately 40%.

With a growing demand for soft drinks globally, the use PET bottles is expected to increase. With this expected market expansion, beverage manufacturers are also accelerating their efforts to be environmentally conscious, and are facing the challenge of decarbonizing the PET bottled beverage manufacturing processes and the filling of soft drinks. In response to such challenges, APS has developed a proprietary non-thermal sterilization system that focuses on the proportion of water included in soft drinks.

To date, the risk that filterable bacteria may pass through the filters has limited the use of sterilizing filters for sterilizing beverages. In many cases, large amounts of energy have been required by heating water to approximately 140°C to achieve sterilization. APS's solution is to combine UV lamps that eliminates even the smallest microbes with a sterilizing filtration filter. This method makes it possible to produce beverages of the same quality as those produced by conventional thermal sterilization, without the need to heat the main component of the beverage - water.

Main Benefits

1. Non-thermal sterilization system that achieves energy savings 

In conventional PET Bottle Aseptic Filling Systems, a large volume of beverages are produced by diluting the product solution, or syrup, with water which has been sterilized with UHT. Water sterilized by UHT heat is also used to wash the containers. APS succeeded in reducing the energy used in liquid treatment by approximately 80% by sterilizing water for both diluting and cleaning, using a UV lamp and a sterilizing filter, using much less energy than conventional thermal sterilization.

2. Two-step sterilization system reduces chemical usage and required installation space

The new aseptic filling system for PET bottles sterilizes in two steps, once before blow molding, at the preform stage, and secondly during blow molding into the bottle shape. Because the surface area of the preform is much smaller than that of a fully blown bottle, the two-step sterilization process reduces the amount of chemicals used by approximately 40%. In addition, by making the sterilization equipment more compact, the installation area can be reduced by approximately 30%. This in turn allows beverage manufacturers to make more effective use of limited space in their factories. 

3. GREEN ASEPTIC™ selected as Advanced Equipment and System eligible for energy conservation subsidies from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy

The newly developed non-thermal sterilization system and two-step sterilization system have been proven to exhibit a high energy-saving performance. These two systems are eligible to receive subsidies for advanced equipment and systems under the FY2025 supplementary budget of the Energy Saving Investment Promotion and Demand Structure Transformation Support Project run by the Sustainable Open Innovation Initiative.

APS have a network of successful installations worldwide and is a leading supplier to the Japanese soft drinks market. This newly developed system is available to all beverage manufacturers, not only in Japan but also in China, Southeast Asia and other regions. We will contribute to the provision of safer and more reliable soft drinks and cut CO₂ emissions. 

For more information on the Aseptic Filling System for PET bottles, please visit: https://www.global.dnp/group/aseptic-systems/

* Company and product names listed in this release are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies. 

* The content of this report is current as of the date of publication. It may be changed at any time without notice.