PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2012

PET news 6 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 10/12 www.petpla.net Partnership for dry online cap sterilization Aptar Food + Beverage and Claranor have entered into a partnership to provide an alternative solution for the steri- lization of sports caps. The pulsed light system developed by Claranor makes use of the bactericidal effect of UV rays, applied through very short and powerful flashes in order to decontaminate the surfaces. This system has the advantage of being clean, dry and chemical-free. With the Claranor system, the Original sports cap can be sterilized to Log 4 directly on production lines. Claranor pulsed light technology is an alternative to existing chemical and irradiation solutions and complies with industrial requirements and constraints. www.claranor.com PolyOne expands Innovation Centers PolyOne Corporation has made several customer-focused upgrades and enhancements to its collaborative Innovation Centers. The company operates eleven state-of-the-art Inno- vation Centers, located in seven countries and three regions around the world.  Recent Innovation Center expansions and enhancements include the following:  The launch of a new colour and additives Innovation Center in Seoul, South Korea  Doubling the size of PolyOne’s Shanghai Innovation Center, including the addition of a training facility, design showroom and equipment that expands prototype capabil- ity to include textile and fibre applications;  The launch of rapid prototyping equipment at PolyOne’s Avon Lake (Ohio) Innovation Center. This new technol- ogy provides customers with Fused Deposition Modelling capability, which makes use of computer drawings in order to directly manufacture working prototypes, thus elimi- nating the costly and time-consuming step of machining moulds from metal. This new 3-D printing capability also allows for on-the-spot experimentation with multiple-base materials;  Increasing production capacity and expanding capabilities to support customers by prototyping film, sheet and injec- tion moulding processes at PolyOne’s Suwanee (Georgia) Innovation Center. www.polyone.com Petainer plant expansion in Sweden Petainer, specialists in the development, design and manufacture of PET plastic containers, are strengthening their cutting-edge PET production systems at their production plant in Lidköping, Sweden. The company has agreed a multimil- lion Euro investment package over the coming twelve months, commencing with an initial order for a Husky HPP injection machine. This will be followed by additional investments focusing on growth and supporting the current customer base. www.petainer.com M&G plans PET plant in Texas M&G Group, producer of PET for packaging applica- tions, has announced that it has purchased land in Corpus Christi, Texas where it will build its 1 million t/a PET plant accompanied by a 1.2 million t/a PTA plant. The property has been purchased by the M&G Group from the philan- thropic organization, The Robert Driscoll and Julia Driscoll and Robert Driscoll, Jr. Foundation. According to M&G, the new plants will generate approximately 250 new jobs. The new PET single line plant will employ the same tech- nology as M&G’s single reactor Suape (Brazil) PET plant, including M&G’s EasyUpTM SSP technology. Corpus Christi, Texas, is strategically located on the Gulf of Mexico. The Port of Corpus Christi is the sixth largest port in the United States in terms of tonnage, and is poised for significant expansion as a major trading gateway to Mexico and Latin America. www.gruppomg.com IVL opens up in Africa Indorama Ventures PLC (IVL) has commenced opera- tions at its new 75,000t/a facility in Port Harcourt, Nige- ria, the first PET plant in West Africa. It is equipped with Buhler SSP (Solid State Polymerisation) technology for production of bottle-grade PET chips, produced from polycondensed chips supplied by IVL’s facilities in Asia or Europe. Nigeria has an estimated demand of approxi- mately 53,000t of PET and is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Port Harcourt, in Southern Nigeria, is the centre of the country’s oil and petrochemicals industry. IVL has 9,000 employees worldwide and 2011 consoli- dated revenue of US$ 6.1 billion. www.indorama.net Appe Poland goes for a Billion Appe, the packaging division of LSB, says building work at its new Polish factory in Tychy, near Katowice, is on schedule, with commercial production due to com- mence in December and the plant fully operational by January 2013. Three Husky injection moulding machines are being installed initially, to service the three major con- tracts that Appe Polska currently has in place. A DeepGrip blow-moulding machine will be installed in 2013. Appe Polska has put in place an ambitious five-year plan, which forecasts growth to 1 billion units/a. The site was selected for its proximity to Polish fillers and its capacity for expan- sion in line with growth forecasts. Fifteen operators are currently employed in the manufacturing plant and the workforce is expected to grow rapidly with planned pro- duction increases. Appe Polska will offer the company’s full product range, including DeepGrip, ActivSeal and its new hot-fill, pasteurisable jars. www.appepackaging.co m