PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2010

REGIONAL MARKET REPORTS 11 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 12/10 www.petpla.net APPE - “We are in the PET waste business and as such we must be able to convert the lowest quality post-consumer PET bottles into the highest quality PET material for new bottles.” We met: Frédéric Blanchard , Plant Director of APPE Beaune By touring France PETplanet was made to believe that the collection and sorting of PET waste and subsequent re-processing, recycling and re-use of PET bottles is a controversial and high priority issue in France, with heated discussions between the government and the beverage industry. (see previous reports in our “Focus on France”, covering the PET Story and visits to several bottlers, as well as to Valorplast). But the controversy does not stop here. After years of hesitation and reluctance, the producers of bever- ages and PET bottlers have finally accepted recycled PET. Food approval was achieved by APPE in 1994, however the industry was slow to accept the environ- mental drivers rather than the cost drivers. The percent- age of blend is still a matter for discussion - 25% today, or 50% as targeted by Coca-Cola and Danone (or even 100% as requested by the demanding Alma Roxane). At the moment such volumes of recycled material are not available and as the complaints about the lack of recycled resin are increasing day by day they raise another question, and another matter of open conflict, namely “How often can recycled plastic material be re- used, re-processed and re-used again? Is the usage of 100% recycled material for bottle-to-bottle a realistic approach when considering the quantities available, or is it even a sound technological solution?” And finally, the recyclers who have to purchase on open market conditions the PET waste and re-process it for bottle-to-bottle use (or any other application) face constant challenges regarding the quality of incoming waste (contaminants) and the price expectations of the finished product when compared to virgin PET. Artenius PET Packaging Europe (APPE) located in Beaune, France was the first and operates the larg- est PET recycling facility in Europe. In Beaune we were received by Frederic Blanchard, the Plant Director, who started the business in Beaune in 1997. Recycling at that time could be considered an idealistic whim or an eccentric indulgence. Today recycling is a press- ing demand by the public and society in general, with extreme concerns about resources and the environ- ment. It is also a priority topic for the beverage industry. The water industries in particular see recycling as a major element for sustainable business and long-term survival. Frederic Blanchard was happy to tell us the story of PET recycling in France, including his role and the role of APPE in the development of recycling. The pres- ence of a visiting TV team from Belgium underlined the public interest in the subject of recycling. History Artenius PET Packaging Europe (APPE) was a pio- neer in PET recycling in 1997 when the original owner, namely Johnson Controls, developed and subsequently produced Super Cycle PET pellets from post consumer flakes on a twin screw extruder. The APPE plant that we visited in Beaune is a smart and clean showpiece for the recycling business, which is normally associated with grime and waste, and is a strong argument in today’s discussions about the constructive role that PET and PET recycling can play in times to come. But APPE at present (APPE in Beaune as well as APPE in Bierne, the biggest converter in the country) is not in the public eye because of its technological and industrial achievements, but because of the financial turmoil of its Spanish parent and holding company La Seda. La Seda had over-invested and was forced to restructure the business with new capital and new share- holders now in place. Inevitably this has affected APPE’s expansion plans across Europe. It was decided that whilst in Beaune, PETplanet would therefore concen- trate the discussions on recycling and technologies and discuss next day the rather more political matters of the company at the large APPE plant in Bierne. Recycling in Beaune Recycling was started in Beaune on a green-field site in 1997 and was producing about 5,000t of recycled resin. At that time the incoming flakes were sourced externally by the company. APPE’s first wash line to produce PET flakes was installed in 2000, followed by further expansion projects to its current 35,000t flake and rPET capacity. The APPE PET recycling process Post consumer PET beverage bottles are collected, processed and converted into food-approved PET flakes or pellets in several stages, and finally ready to be blended with virgin PET and injection moulded into new preforms. Artenius PET Packaging Europe operates the largest PET recycling facility in Europe