PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2016

PET news 6 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 03/16 www.petpla.net Athena – Sipa relationship ends The agreement entered by Athena Automation Ltd., Ontario, Canada, and Sipa S.p.A., Italy, in December 2012 has expired. Athena will support Sipa in shipping and servicing the remain- ing “Athena for Sipa” machine inventory. Athena’s next-generation PET preform moulding machines will be sold and serviced directly by Athena, alongside its non-PET machines. According to Robert Schad, President of Athena, there are no plans to form an alliance with a specific mould maker. Instead Athena customers will be able to choose the mould maker they want to use with the post-mould cooling and quick mould-change technologies from Athena. Athena currently builds 150, 300 and 450 metric ton injec- tion moulding machines. A new 14,400m 2 plant for just-in-time manufacturing of machines only is in the early start-up phase. The existing 3,700m 2 building will remain as head office and will include Sales and Customer Services. www.athenaautomation.com Drinktec 2017: Focus on water and energy management Water is the most important basic ingredient for the brewing and beverages industry. But that’s just part of the story - in the production processes water fulfills many other functions, either as process water, an energy carrier or in cleaning operations. Water demand and water consumption is therefore correspondingly high. For this reason in the production of beverages and liquid food the emphasis is more and more on a holistic consid- eration of the way resources are consumed. Economic factors, but also image concerns, in relation to sustainable production, play an important role. Next year, Drinktec, the “World´s Leading Trade Fair for the Beverage and Liquid Food Industry” will be highlighting the whole theme of water and energy management. The approximately 1,600 exhibi- tors from all over the world will be presenting sustainable solutions in this field. Solutions for efficient water and energy management will be presented by the exhibitors at Drinktec 2017 right across all sections of the exhibition. In the Drinktec Forum, too, this theme will play an important role. In the opinion of Richard Clemens, Managing Director of the VDMA Food Process- ing and Packaging Machinery Association (Fachverband Nahrungsmittelmaschinen und Verpackungsmaschinen), efficient resource and energy management has not yet penetrated all corners of the beverages and food industry, neither in Germany, nor in the markets worldwide. “We would therefore like to turn the spotlight on the themes of water processing, recycling and disposal, and on the contribution of hygienic design towards reducing water consumption – and we will be doing this not least at our own booth at Drinktec 2017. We are going to put on a program specifically for the target group of energy managers in the beverage and food industry, in which they can gather information, learn about best-practice examples and engage in discussion with experts and colleagues from across the sector. Both for the exhibitors from this segment, and also for the trade-fair visitors, we are therefore delivering real added value.” www.drinktec.com Development and commercialisation of bio-based PET Anellotech, a company focused on producing renewable chemicals from non-food biomass, has announced the opening of a fully-integrated development and testing facility (TCat-8). Construction of a building and related facilities to house the pre-built unit began in Silsbee, Hardin Country, TX, USA on the site of Anellotech’s operating partner, South Hampton Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trecora Resources. As an integral component in the bio-based value chain, Anellotech’s proprietary thermal catalytic biomass conversion technology (Bio-TCat) produces “drop-in” green aromatic chemicals (benzene, toluene and xylenes, “BTX”) from non- food biomass. Scheduled to be fully installed and operational during 2016, TCat-8 is intended to confirm the viability and suitability of the Bio-TCat process for scale-up, and generate the data needed to design commercial plants using Bio-TCat technology. The TCat-8 unit was jointly designed by Anellotech and its R&D partner IFPEN, and will use a novel catalyst under joint development by Anellotech and Johnson Matthey. Anellotech recently made several key announcements supporting the development and commercialisation of its Bio- TCat technology, including a multi-year partnership with global beverage company Suntory to advance the development and commercialisation of cost-competitive 100% bio-based PET beverage bottles. The partnership began in 2012 under a col- laboration agreement that has provided more than $15 million in funding to date. Following verification of the continuous operation of TCat-8, Suntory plans to move ahead with stud- ies to consider the development of the first commercial-scale Bio-TCat plant. www.anellotech.com