PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2013

EDITOUR REPORTS 14 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 12/13 www.petpla.net April 25, 2013 Cristalpet Preforms, specials and energy efficiency We met: Fernando Moreira, Production Manager Every month around 180 million preforms, together with individually printed caps, leave the Cristalpet plant in Montevideo, Uruguay, heading in the direction of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela. In so doing the preform manufacturer is showing an interest in what his major customers want and for this reason is getting ready to use recycled PET. Local legislation encourages Cristalpet to go for energy-efficient production. Production Manager Fernando Moreira in front of a photo- graph of the Cristalpet premises in Montevideo. At Cristalpet in Montevideo, Uruguay, a total of 180 mil- lion preforms a month are manufactured 24 hours a day. This makes the company a leader on the preform market in South America. I spoke with Fernando Moreira, who has been in on the act right from the start. “When, in 1994, we embarked on the change from glass to PET here, I found that I, as an expert in PET, was able to identify very well with Cristalpet. Having spent a long time working abroad, I also wanted to get back home again. I really enjoy it here“. Since then Cristalpet has undergone a period of robust growth along with its largest customer, Coca Cola. “In those days we started out with one injection moulding machine and 15 employees. Today we have 19 injection moulding machines and our total number of employees has risen to 350”. Cristalpet has also been manufacturing caps for Coca Cola since 2008. There are two machines pro- ducing approx. 56 million caps per month, some of which feature individual print motifs for special advertising cam- paigns. In contrast to the early days, today only a small proportion of the preforms are blow moulded in the plant itself – the majority of customers have their own machinery for blow moulding bottles. “Closures are a key topic as far as we are concerned. In 2012 we were the first company to apply for a patent for the universal closure in South America. And, as regards short necks, that was another first for us in 2009 together with Coca Cola“, chuckles Mr Moreira. Once another of Cristalpet’s important customers, Danone, has gone ahead as anticipated and converted its products to short neck the remainder of the fleet of machines in Montevideo will also be adapted to the modern closure. Currently Cristalpet is getting ready for an increase in the processing of recycled PET. “This is very important for us because we like to act in a way that is environmentally friendly. This not only meets our own standards but also the requirements of our customers. All we need to be able to use recycled material in large quantities is approval from Brazil“. For the Montevideo company, Brazil plays an important role as the country to which the majority by far of exports go. The preforms from Uruguay are also shipped to Argen- tina, Chile and Venezuela. MHT MOLD & HOTRUNNER TECHNOLOGY Dr. Ruben-Rausing-Str. 7 | D-65239 Hochheim/Main Tel. +49(0) 6146-906-0 | www.mht-ag.de Make the most of your machine – with a mold from MHT! For many machine types, we supply the mold with the highest cavitation, thereby enabling optimum preform output. For the Husky HyPET machines, we offer upgrade sets for up to 50% more preforms, YKVJQWV TGƂVVKPI QP VJG OCEJKPG • 60 cavities for Netstal PETline 2000 • 96 cavities for Husky HyPET 300, • 112 cavities for KraussMaffei 350 Engineering made in Germany 128 for HyPET 400 Patented! MHT cool MAX ® post mold cooling