PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2016

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 14 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 06/16 www.petpla.net PET: The bottle and beyond by Nicholas Bloch, Executive Vice President for Communications, Sidel Adopting and developing a more sustainable approach throughout the supply chain is undoubtedly one of the big- gest challenges faced by the packaging industry. In terms of beverages, there are many different materials employed, such as plastic, can, carton and glass, each with its respec- tive advantages and disadvantages. Here, Nicholas Bloch, Executive Vice President Communications at Sidel, consid- ers PET and its position as arguably the most sustainable package of choice. PET (sometimes also abbreviated as PETE) is a form of polyester and is one of the most widely used con- sumer plastics. Its importance to the beverage industry is highlighted by the fact that bottle production repre- sents some 30% of its total use. 1 The major benefits of PET as a packaging material are numerous: it is strong, shatterproof, lightweight, transpar- ent, safe, and, importantly, recyclable, with an inherent barrier which makes it particularly suited to a wide range of food and beverage applications. It also offers significant design flexibility for brands that want to stand out on the supermarket shelf. In discussing what is meant by a sustainable package it is important to understand that its primary func- tion must be to protect the food or beverage it contains, and deliver it safely to the consumer, surviving all the challenges of the supply chain. Beyond that, sustainability considera- tions include how the environmen- tal footprint of the package can be minimised through reducing the use of raw materials and other resources; reducing energy use or employing renewable energy sources, especially during production and transportation; building recycling principles into the design stage; incorporating recycled content in the packaging; and adopt- ing end-of-life options, including recycling. At the same time, for that product to remain sustainable it needs to be attractive to the consumer and so brand, design and consumer expe- rience considerations are important also. Rightweighting As a lightweight material, PET already provides significant environ- mental advantages in terms of lower transportation costs and reduced fuel emissions. Its unique geometric prop- erties and inherent barrier qualities, combined with innovative designs, have increasingly allowed manufac- turers to use less plastic resin in the packaging process. There has been much research and development into how this can be further improved through lightweighting, a prime focus for the beverage packaging industry, whereby the amount of raw mate- rial required to produce a bottle is reduced through the bottle design process. At Sidel we have taken this a step further with RightWeight, a 0.5l PET water bottle which weighs only 7.95g and represents a 34% weight reduction compared to the average commercial bottle weight of 12g. We have used the ‘RightWeight’ name to highlight that lightweighting a bottle should not compromise the integ- rity of the bottle performance or the consumer experience, with a design which prevents the ‘over squeeze’ issue that can result in the spilling of contents unintentionally when using ultra-light bottles. By reducing the material content of the packaging, it offers environmental advantages on two fronts: firstly, the savings achieved in the PET resin raw material itself and, secondly, further reducing the impact of transporting the bottles throughout the supply chain. Modern bottle designs can lead to substantial savings for beverage producers world- wide. To make it as easy as possible to see the actual savings that can be achieved, Sidel has introduced a PET savings calculator, (www.sidel.com/ PET-savings-calculator). Optimising energy use Recognising that sustainability in beverage production is influenced by a number of different factors, one focus is how energy use can be optimised. Programmes are available which provide an initial audit to measure electricity consumption, along with influencing factors such as air pressure and leaks, with mechanical testing on Mr Nicholas Bloch, Executive Vice Pres- ident for Communications at Sidel Collected and stacked PET bottles RECYCLING S P E C I A L