PET with special properties
by Michael Maruschke
Ester Industries Limited, which is headquartered in Gurgaon (Gurugram), Haryana State, India has been manufacturing polyester films for more than 35 years. Ester is made up of three business divisions: BoPET Films, Engineering Plastics and Specialty Polymers. They have production capacities of 57,000 tonnes/year; 26,000 tonnes/year; and 47,000 tonnes/year, respectively. Its primary manufacturing facility is located at Khatima (Uttarakhand), about 300 km North of New Delhi.
Ester Industries Ltd., May 2019
We met: Dr Richa Prakash, R&D (Specialty Polymers)
Mr Girish Behal, Polyester Films SBU
The company manufactures and markets a comprehensive range of polyesters, including PET, PBT, PEN, PTT and allied co-polymers. Ester reports that the importance of recycled PET-based compounds and masterbatches has increased in recent years, a factor that has been reflected in its production and manufacturing focus.
From hotfill to PET kegs
Ester’s speciality polymer division has established a niche in the supply of specialty compounds, beyond regular PET resins. These include heat-resistant PET compounds for hot-fill applications, such as honey, ketchup and cordial drinks concentrates. With temperature resistance of up to 92 °C, Ester’s compounds offer characteristics at the upper end of what is available in the market.
Ester has also developed expertise in the manufacture of scratch-resistant PET, including a sub-HR grade series for manufacturing four and five gallon containers, which has 300% better scratch resistance than normal PET. It can be used for packaging of water, can be hot washed at 70 °C for 35 to 40 cycles and used in returnable containers.
The company has also developed a resin for PET kegs, in collaboration with a leading global beer manufacturer. A patent has already been granted in the US and is pending in Europe.
rPET in India
Ester Industries says that rPET has been showing strong growth over the past four or five years. About 90% of PET bottles are recycled, mainly for subsequent use in fibres. Ester and some other companies in India have started making products using rPET for packaging solutions in non-food industry.
As a raw material supplier and film manufacturer, Ester Industries can view rPET from another perspective. It already operates an in-house recycling system from Erema, including its solid state polycondensation (SSP) process, for its PET film plant, which has a capacity of 100 tonnes per day. The recycled material is mainly exported, to the US, Europe and China. The company intends to further push its general PET recycling activities: a flakes to pellets recycling system from Starlinger will be installed in few months.
Ester now offers up to 100% PCR (post-consumer resin) content in polyester films and has the capacity to manufacture a range of products using recycled polymers that are suitable for packaging and textile market applications.
