PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2012

PET news 6 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 05/12 www.petpla.net Appe invests in Intravis automated inspection Appe, the packaging division of LSB, has invested €1.5m to develop and install Sample-PreWatcher technology from Intravis GmbH for the automatic inspection of the key quality parameters of preforms. The system has been deployed across all of Appe’s plant. The technology was developed by Intravis along with input from Appe’s pan-European quality team. The companies say that the system replaces manual inspection with an automated, rapid and in-depth analysis of preforms. Sample-PreWatcher carries out a complete visual inspection, colour analysis, cavity number recognition and neck dimension examination. The technology has been further developed to include weight control, thread-flash analysis and wall thickness variation. Other Intravis systems already used by Appe include a ColourWatcher system for preform colour consistency; Pre- Watcher for high-speed preform selection, and BottleWatcher for container inspection. www.appepackaging.com Danone Research and Avantium to develop PEF bottles for water Danone Research and Avantium have entered into a Joint Development Agreement for the development of PEF bottles for Danone, which is the world’s second-largest bottled water supplier. The agreement is the second in Avantium’s commercialisation strategy for co-development of its YXY (‘icksy’) technology for PEF bottles, which use bio-sourced material. YXY is a chemical-catalytic technology that converts carbohydrates produced from plants, grains, energy crops, lignocellulosic matter, waste streams, waste paper or agricultural residues into a vari- ety of bio-based polymers. Aventium asserts that it does not compete with food supplies. The company says that a recent study by the Copernicus Institute at Utrecht Univer- sity found that PEF has a 50-60% lower carbon footprint than oil-based PET. Finalizing the study is part of the Joint Development Agreement. Avantium is currently validating the use of existing supply and recycling chains with the aim of enabling a full transition to bio-based PEF bottles in three to five years. Avantium recently opened a pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, with the capacity of producing 40t of PEF for application development. www.avantium.com www.yxy.com La Seda announces €40 million rights issue and corporate reorganisation In 2011 La Seda de Barcelona (LSB) successfully achieved refinancing of debt with its banks and rede- fined its core business by focusing on the plastic pack- aging sector. Consolidated turnover for financial year 2011 amounted to €1,172.4 million, which represents an increase of 17.6% over the previous year. All busi- nesses within the Group made a positive contribution to its figures. EBITDA was €57.8 million, 15.9% less than 2010, and it reduced net consolidated debt by 42%, to €49.6 million. LSB has now announced a growth strat- egy for 2012, which includes a proposed €40 million rights issue to current shareholders. The strategic plan is intended to enable the plastic packaging division (Appe) to expand into new markets and focus on new materi- als and products. The company plans to create a new company that will integrate all the chemical businesses of the Group (PTA, glycol, PET, chemical PET recycling and technology) and facilitate the involvement of an industrial partner. The new division will have PET production plants in Spain, Italy, Turkey and Greece; raw materials (Glycol) in Spain and in Portugal (PTA), as well as recycling plants in Spain and Italy. Future projects under consideration include a 400,000t PET production plant in Sines, Portu- gal, as well as a new Appe production facility in Poland. It also intends to build a new production facility in Italy and to increase the number of its TTW (‘through the wall’) ser- vice locations. Recycled PET production will be promoted in Italy (San Giorgio) and in Spain (El Prat), by the launch of Elite, a new product that is claimed to offer an equiva- lent quality to 100% virgin PET, with varying percentages of rPET. www.laseda.es Kortec moves house Kortec Inc., the supplier of turnkey co-injection sys- tems, is moving its headquarters to a new location in Rowley, Mass, USA. The new headquarters, 3.5 miles (5.6km) north of its previous location in Ipswich, Mass, is 30% larger and will have additional capacity to accom- modate engineering, mould assembly, and research and development activities. Effective May 7, 2012, the compa- ny’s address is: Kortec, Inc., 428 Newburyport Turnpike, Rowley, MA 01969. www.kortec.com