PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2011

PET news 6 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 12/11 www.petpla.net EU support Krones PET recycling The European Commission, under the aegis of the EU’s programme for competitiveness and innovation, is subsidis- ing Krones’ introduction of an FDA-compliant flake recycling process. The objective of the scheme is to successfully establish eco-compatible processes and environment- friendly products on the European market, and to upgrade the competitive capabilities of companies in the EU. Krones’ SuperPET recycling process has been adjudged to offer cost-efficient operation and significant market potential in the 27 EU nations. The process, which is fully developed, produces food-quality flakes from used PET bottles for use in the manufacture of new PET containers, and is claimed to offer substantial energy, CO 2 and other savings. www.krones.com Registration for drink technology India/PackTech India now open Online registration is now open for drink technology India (dti) and PackTech India, the international exhibitions for the packaging, packaging printing, processing, beverage and liquid food industries. They will be running concurrently in Mumbai, India, from 6-8 November 2012. The venue is the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, where over 260 exhibitor companies are expected. India is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world for beverages and packaged food products, with double-digit growth fore- cast for the next few years. Demand is high for machinery, equipment and accessories from western Europe, the US and China. The exhibitions will be supplemented by speaker presentations and a packaging conference. More than 6,000 trade visitors attended the previous event, in Novem- ber 2010. The 2012 edition will be the second time that the trade fairs have been jointly organised by Messe München, Messe Düsseldorf and their Indian subsidiaries. www.drinktechnology-india.com www.packtech-india.com PET Engineering launches Polaris project PET Engineering has launched the Polaris project, a refurbishing and modernisation service to update old blowing machines, and bring them to the same level of productive performance as current modern machines. The company claims that significant energy savings can be achieved by changing the pitch between the lamps, meaning fewer lamps are required. This results in a lower consumption of energy when heating the preform inside the oven. Compressed air is also recovered and this is used to feed the primary functions of the blowing machine. According to the company, Polaris also permits the blow- ing of ultra-light containers, thanks to its five modules which can be applied separately or together, and this improves the efficiency of the machine and reduces the number of maintenance operations on the blowing compo- nents. www.petengineering.com Coca-Cola and Eco Plastics unveil recycling joint venture Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) and Eco Plastics have announced that Continuum Recycling Limited, their joint venture for recycling, will be located in Lincolnshire, in the east of England. The companies say that the name is reflective of the new company’s continuous process for re-processing plastic bottles. Eco Plastics received plan- ning permission for a £15 million expansion of its plant in May 2011 and groundworks, foundations and a new road have already been completed. The new facility will increase the amount of high-quality bottle-grade rPET cur- rently produced in the UK to more than 75,000t/a, more than double the current total. Once transformed into food- grade rPET pellet by Continuum Recycling the material will be used in Coca-Cola bottles, enabling CCE to meet its target of including 25% recycled PET in all its plas- tics packaging by 2012. Eco Plastics began reprocess- ing post-consumer plastics in 2006. It has quadrupled its processing capacity and tripled the factory footprint since then. In early 2009 it became the first UK company to receive food grade accreditation for its rPET resin. www.ecoplasticsltd.com IVL to acquire Wellman International recycling and fibre business Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited has signed an agreement to acquire Wellman International Ltd and its related company, MJR Recycling BV, from Aurelius AG. The acquisition is expected to be completed before the end of 2011, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. It will pro- vide access to proven recycling technology and the potential for a technology transfer to the Company’s Asian assets. IVL is seeking to become a ‘zero waste’ company with a low carbon footprint and the acquisition will help it to serve both the beverage and fibre segments of its customer base. Well- man International is Europe’s largest recycler of PET bottles and also produces polyester staple fibre products and rPET. It has three production facilities in Europe producing over 153,000t/a. These are: a polyester fibre plant in Mullagh, Republic of Ireland; and recycling plants at Spijk, Nether- lands, and Verdun, France. IVL’s main products are PTA, PET and Polyester fibre. It employs approximately 7,996 people worldwide and its latest annual figures show consoli- dated revenue of $4.6 billion. www.indorama.net