PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2015

EDITOUR REPORT 14 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 03/15 www.petpla.net Additives  AA Reducer, specially for mineral water  UV Absorber, UV radiation absorption up to 300-400nm  IV Enhancer, improves the mechanical characteristics of a bottle made with R-PET  Anti Yellow, reduces the yellow haze in preforms, extruded sheets and R-PET  Blowing Additives, improve blowing characteristics and allow energy saving especially for thick-walled preforms  Optical Brighteners, improve the brilliance of PET bot- tles and sheets  Process Aid, allow process enhancement, better preform quality and storage optimisation. Colour Barriers  Protect the contents against UV radiation, visible light degradation and the negative effect of oxygen. PET packaging applications for beer, juices, wine, food, and milk. Equipment  Dosing units for dispensing and flow control of Repi products  Light Meter, for light transmission measurement on opaque, semi-transparent and transparent preforms, before the blow- ing stage. This allows a more scientific alternative to the visual control in all coloured preform ranges. We extend our thanks for this interesting overview of the PET market from the point of view of a colours and additives supplier. www.repi.it f.l.t.r.: Filippo and Ferruccio Angiolini in front of the Editour- mobil Nuova S.A.MI.CER. S.p.A. by Alexander Büchler The Sem Group operates a total of 4 water bottling plants in Italy. We visited the Fonte Ventasso facility situated in the heart of the mountains. This is a small operation that bottles some 110 million litres of water per year, using approx. 75 million bottles. In order to be able to survive in the tough Italian water market, the company operates a strategy of cost optimisation. As part of this strategy they have reduced the weight of the 1.5l bottle from 32 to 23 grams over the last 17 years. f.l.t.r.: Giovanni Brignoli, Siad Compressor Division Food & Beverage Product Leader and Marco Bassi, Siad Compressor Division Food & Beverage Application Engineer in front of the Vito compressor One special feature of the operation is the production of water bottles for use in vending machines. Some 50% of production finds its way to the consumer via automatic machines. These bottles are not only designed like normal bottles to withstand being stacked one on top of the other (top-heaviness); they also need to be able to withstand a certain stacking pressure when in the horizontal position. The attention focused on reducing the weight of the bottle has to be balanced by giving a more in-depth consideration to this stacking pressure. Optimisation is ongoing in bottle design, and the company has also been looking at the potential for sav- ings in the production process. With the modern Proco- mac and Sipa block-format filling plants with a capacity of 16,000 b/h, the lightweight bottles can be reliably pro- duced and filled. The company has uncovered potential for savings in energy consumption. The biggest con- sumer of energy on the production front is the compres- sor. For this reason they have now adopted the new Siad Macchine Impianti Vito compressor with which they have