PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2011

BOTTLING / FILLING 26 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 12/11 www.petpla.net Installation of SMI PET line at Egyptian “National Company for Producing and Bottling natural water & olive oils” Water from the desert At the western end of the Egyptian desert, on the border with Libya, around 300km south- west of Marsa Matruh, the Siwa Oasis offers its visitors an almost unique experience. The presence of water in the oasis encourages agricultural activities, related food processing businesses and a small number of factories specializing in the production of mineral water. Among these, the “National Company for Producing and Bottling natural water & olive oils” stands out. Owned by the Egyptian army and controlled by the NSPO (National Service Prod- ucts Organization), it produces and markets Safi mineral water. NSPO chose SMI as a part- ner for the engineering study and the final installation of a complete 6,000bph PET SBM line. The Siwa Oasis The fertile lands of the oasis have enabled the development of agri- cultural production based mainly on olives, date palms and alfalfa which are flanked by small crops of other kinds of vegetables and fruit, mainly intended for local use. As well as its agricultural activities and food process- ing (dates and olives) companies, Siwa is also a prestigious industrial centre. Tourism is the second most important economic sector in the area, attracting around 10,000 visitors per year. The Siwa Oasis springs up out of nowhere with its palms and trees which extends, at 50km from the border with Libya, between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea. In the oasis, located on the ancient trade route for dates which terminates at Memphis, there are over 300 freshwater springs which water thousands of date palms and large olive plantations. Between Siwa and the capital Cairo, nothing- ness reigns, or rather 550km of sand. During the course of its long history, it has remained largely isolated from events which took place on the banks of the Nile and has developed inde- pendently from the rest of Egypt. Until the 1980s, the most common means of transport was carts pulled by donkeys. The new asphalt road connects Siwa to the city of Marsa Matruh, to the North-East. The oasis is located in a depression, whose depth reaches 60m below sea level, which stretches for around 82 km. The Siwa depression and its lakes, one of the most spectac- ular places in Egypt, are the remains of an ancient sea which later evaporated and which extended up to here.