PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2017

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 05/17 www.petpla.net 16 New developments of PET resin in the beverage sector The PET resin of choice Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the choice of industry heavyweights for bottling the world’s favourite brands of water and soft drink. In addition, its behaviour in recycling systems allows easy conversion into a versatile material for use in textiles, carpets and new bottles. PETplanet Insider sits down with M&G Chemicals marketing manager Cécile Bourland to find out more about developments in PET resin. One of the biggest challenges for beverage manufacturers is continu- ally improving the barrier to extend the shelf life and quality of products as diverse as beer, juice and carbon- ated water. Players in the sector’s value chain argue that this gives PET extended environmental benefits that competing plastics cannot offer. Brand manufacturers across the bever- age industry are putting their weight behind sustainable technologies that are commercially feasible, socially acceptable and ecologically sound. Combined with the move towards lightweighting bottles without sacrific- ing the integrity or quality of the bar- rier, this has led these manufacturers to meet M&G chemicals. PETplanet: What is the share in the PET resin market, and where do you see the real growth? Cécile Bourland: The current market for PET resin in packaging applications is about 20 million tons, of which about 80% is for beverage applications. We expect the market to grow in volume by 7.5% annually over the next few years. Currently, the largest applications by volume are in water and carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), but we are increasingly seeing growth in a large number of oxygen-sensitive beverages such as beer, juices and dairy. Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and warmer areas in Asia tend to have need for the strongest barriers in PET pack- aging and are an area of potential growth. The main end markets that M&G covers with its resins are CSD, water, beer, wine, juices, dairy (milk, soy, vitamin-enhanced and yoghurt), energy drinks and coconut water. PETplanet: What are the main challenges you see as a resin pro- ducer? Cécile Bourland : In beverages, there is an increasing desire to extend shelf life. If one talks about a CO 2 barrier, the average shelf life offered by all technologies is about six months. Improving CO 2 barrier performances is therefore a con- stant challenge for the industry - to optimise all available parameters: resin performances, preform and bottle design, and process condi- tions. Regarding O 2 barrier, PoliPro- tect resin offers the strongest barrier providing the longest shelf life (more than a year and a half on average), and fully satisfying market needs. By extending shelf life, companies are able to better manage their exports (avoiding the risk of their beverage being unfit for sale before it reaches the consumer in a faraway coun- try). In addition to being able to go through logistics, extending the prod- uct’s shelf life means reducing overall supply chain costs – generating fur- ther savings for the brand. The size of the bottle can also impact the shelf life, or the barrier required. A smaller container exerts a greater pressure on the surface of the bottle, which will require a stronger barrier to protect it. This is also true when a company lightweights its bottle. Even if the bottle is the same size, less material means a thinner bottle wall and an improved barrier is required. PETplanet: What is M&G’s offer to address these challenges? Cécile Bourland: We have developed three different grades of PoliProtect to cover the different bar- rier needs in the industry, and they are as follows:  APB: a CO 2 /O 2 barrier of the strongest grade, used primarily by brewers and also by producers of premium 100% juice.  JB: a medium O 2 barrier mainly for products where the makeup is not 100% juice. It can be used for wine, vitamin-enhanced waters and flavoured milk.  PB: a strong CO 2 barrier used mainly for CSD and sparkling water. MATERIALS Special