PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2013

EDITOURS REPORTS 16 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 09/13 www.petpla.net Peru February 18, 2013 San Miguel Industrias PET, Lima We met: Sven Brodersen, CEO Everything from a single source The privately owned company SMI in Lima belongs to one of the largest manufacturers of preforms and bottles for Lima and southern Latin America. With 2.4 billion pre- forms p.a., they have a market share of 80%. For the past two years SMI have also been regenerating PET bottles from consumer waste. We spoke with Sven Broderson, CEO for the PET side of the business. Sven Broderson CEO PET SMI and Alex Büchler in the 30,000m² empty bottle plant For producers of preforms, things are relatively straight- forward. They produce commodities that are clearly defined by material and dimensions. What subsequently happens to them is as a rule up to the bottle blowers, i.e. the bot- tlers. Under this definition, SMI are not one of the classic preform producers, since 80% of their preform produc- tion goes into their own stretch blow moulding equipment. About half of this is blow moulded in the main plant in Lima whilst the other half goes for in-house production at the bottlers. The plants are located in Ecuador, Panama, Sal- vador, Columbia and, of course, Peru. Overall there are 33 plants involved in blow moulding operations at all locations. Most of the machinery has been supplied by Sidel and Sipa. In addition, depending on customer requirements, there is also the labelling of the empty bottles, although Sven Broderson actually prefers to sell bottles only. An in- line labelling operation prior to bottling can have a nega- tive effect on the overall efficiency of a plant. The in-house plants are each tailored to the individual customer, some- times producing directly in-line, sometimes in silos but also on pallets. Using this system, SMI are able to ensure full utilisation of their plants. In the high season, from December to May, 80 % of production stays in the country, in the low season it is still a healthy 60%. One particular speciality is the hot fill bottles for Gatorade, which they produce in the main plant on Sipa equipment. In La Paz, we have three interest- ing appointments. First off we meet the waste separation organisation Ecovecindarios/Swisscontact followed by label producer Industrias Lara Bisch and finally Pepsi licensee CBN. After the visits we sally forth to the next stage, Santa Cruz, through the rain forest. Leaving the Andes behind we reach Santa Cruz, located in the lush trop- ical rain forest. Here we have an appointment with Coca Cola licensee Embol. The preforms for Embol’s PET bottles come from Empacar, which is where we are heading for our next appointment. Later at Empacar we learn that the preforms supplied to Coca Cola are made from 10% recycled material which the company produces in-house on a bottle to bottle line. Before driving finally to Santiago de Chile for handing-over the Edi- tourmobil to the second team con- sisting of Kay and Shiraz there’s still another interview to conduct in Bolivia’s constitutional capital, Sucre. But, how to get there? Major roads will involve a huge detour, and so we opt for the minor roads instead. Moments later we find our- selves bumping along for 300km over sand and gravel. Poor Editourmobil! And just to make life more inter- esting, we manage to get stuck in a mud hole, from which a kindly truck driver drags us out. In Sucre, we instantly despatch the vehicle to the local car wash, where a diligent team of 4 spend a good four hours giving the Editourmobil a thorough spring- clean inside and out. Our final appointment with the small brewery Surena is situated at a height of 3,300m. After an interest- ing meeting and numerous small ser- pentine roads we are ready to leave Bolivia, but surprise, surprise, there is no direct route to our des- tination. We again opt for a chal- lenging road and find ourselves cross- ing the beautiful landscape of the National Park in southwest Bolivia… and reaching finally the customs office at an altitude of 5,020m, where we get an official customs stamp allowing us to leave Bolivia with the vehicle. by Alexander Büchler 360°