PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2015

CAPPING / CLOSURES 33 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 12/15 www.petpla.net M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S W W W . I N T R A V I S . C O M is a logical consequence. The Bottlers do not need to bother themselves with the peaks and troughs inherent in plastics production; they always have access to the latest technology and if there are problems from time to time with the closure, it is down to the sup- plier to react, regardless of whether the fault lies with the capper or the cap. In North America Bericap main- tains three plants: one in Canada, one in the South Carolina and one in California. We visited the site near Los Angeles. Like all Bericap plants, the plant is characterised by a trans- parent flow of materials. Everything happens in sequence, starting with material feed to the injection mould- ing machines via the actual machine proceeding to further processing and packaging. One particular feature is that the entire production facility is accommodated in a large controlled room inside the factory building. Dehumidified, filtered, and cooled air flows into the area through the tool room via air inlets. This means that there are no condensation-, contami- nation problems for the moulds. California may be a great place to live but it is also a very expensive place to set up a production loca- tion. The price of land, energy costs and even wages are higher than, for example, in the neighbouring Federal States. The logistics arrangement for the closures is also a particular issue in California. From April to October the farmers in California pick 60% of the USA’s vegetable and fruit harvest. During this period all the trucks are busy transporting the foodstuffs all over the USA. This means that it is difficult to get HGVs in the actual bev- erages season. Here it is only long- term partnerships with the hauliers that can help with obtaining sufficient transport at the right time. America has always been slightly behind Europe when it comes to progress on the PET bottle front. So, once a trend had spilled over from Europe to America, this invariably meant that Bericap had already devel- oped the appropriate closures and was able to supply them immediately. This was certainly the case in the last century when water and CSD were developed in America; it was also the case when the switchover from hot fill to aseptic commenced. And now David Watson also envisages a trend away from PP to PE closures. It is precisely in North America, where big reserves of natural gas are being exploited using the fracking technique, that the bottlers are able to take advantage of the ethylene produced. The price is more stable and thus easier to calculate than a PP price that is directly dependent on the price of crude oil. As far as David Watson is con- cerned, recycling is set to become increasingly important in the future. He says he envisages a time when the closure too will find itself back with the consumer in the form of a closure in the same way as the bottle to bottle recycling of PET. www.bericap.com