PETpla.net Insider 08 / 2014

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 16 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 08/14 www.petpla.net Achieving product protection and maintaining aesthetic quality Acetaldehyde migration in PET water bottles: Based on an article by Matt Jackson, R&D Lead Technologist PolyOne ColorMatrix Acetaldehyde (AA), a degradation product of PET polymer, is generated during the PET preform injection moulding process and becomes trapped within the preform walls during cooling. AA subsequently migrates into the water after filling and during storage, which can affect the taste and smell of carbonated and still mineral waters. Two currently used AA scavenging additives help reduce the negative taste and odour effects of AA migration to maintain product quality and ultimately preserve brand integrity. This article explores their effects on PET polymer colour and per- formance. One is an anthranilamide-based formulation, dispersed in a PET liquid carrier system; the second is a solid granule polyamide-based additive. AA scavenging perfor- mance and container aesthetics are important for brand owners. In addition, today’s eco-conscious plastics industry demands that the effect of additives on polymer quality and clarity be a key consideration because this factor helps deter- mine recyclability. As a result, an additive’s effect on clarity can be a deciding factor in specifying one product over the other. A series of laboratory tests were carried out to gauge scavenging performance, and more specifically, to measure the effects each additive has on polymer colour and clarity, both after initial processing and after a second heat process following a simu- lated recycling study. Global PET bottled water market The global PET bottled water market is the largest for PET contain- ers. This market, while growing at a slightly slower rate compared with growth in the last decade, is forecast to manufacture over 250 billion bottles of water in 2015. (see Table 1 and 2) There is growing pressure on the plastics industry to increase the rate of recycling. In Europe, more than 60 million PET beverage bottles were recycled in 2012 2 and while most of these would be re-used in fibre appli- cations, using more recycled PET in new bottle and sheet manufacturing is a growing trend. In North America, the second largest regional consumer market for bottled water, 276 MM lbs (over 125,000t) of recycled PET was used in food and beverage bottle End-use 2005 2010 CAGR 2015 CAGR Beer 5.9 8.4 7.2% 11.9 7.2% Carbonated soft drinks 116.1 138.5 3.6% 163.9 3.4% Juice beverages 26.4 32.5 4.2% 43.1 5.8% Milk and dairy drinks 10.3 12.3 3.5% 15.4 4.6% Ready-to-drink-tea 20.5 37.8 13.0% 61.2 10.1% Sport and energy drinks 19.5 28.4 7.8% 44.7 9.4% Water 143.1 195.5 6.4% 251.4 5.2% Wine and spirits 14.3 17.4 4.0% 22.4 5.2% Other beverages 3 3.8 5.1% 4.9 4.9% Total 359.1 474.6 5.7% 618.8 5.4% Table 1: Global PET Bottle volume consumption (billion units) Geographic region 2005 2010 CAGR 2015 CAGR Asia 32.9 55.7 11.1% 82.4 8.1% Europe 44.9 50.8 2.5% 54.6 1.5% North America 35.7 46.7 5.5% 52.8 2.5% Rest of world 29.6 42.2 7.4% 61.5 7.8% Total 143.1 195.5 6.4% 251.4 5.2% Table 2: Global PET Bottle volume consumption – water (billion units) manufacturing in 2012 3 . This repre- sents an increase of 14% over 2011 and a clear indication of the accelerat- ing growth market for recycled PET in new bottle production. For brand owners, the use of recycled materi- als strengthens their environmental profile, and companies like Nestlé, Mountain Valley and Eldorado already use from 25% to 100% recycled content for certain water brands. PET recycling bodies like Napcor in North America and The European PET