PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2017

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 05/17 www.petpla.net 17 PETplanet: What about future developments, are there any you can discuss? Cécile Bourland: We have a number of new developments that have just been launched or will be available within the next months and will support areas of potential growth.  PoliProtect K: for kegs, aimed at the CEE market (including West- ern Europe) and Central/South America, this will be used by pre- mium breweries. Currently, many bars, pubs and restaurants are not returning the metal kegs used to distribute beer from the brewer- ies; this could be for a variety of reasons, but it remains a big prob- lem. A plastic keg can help allevi- ate these problems by being less expensive to produce and ship. Lost or unreturned kegs would be less of an impact to the brewers’ bottom line. Historically, one of the difficulties has been making a strong barrier resin that can sustain specific mechanical properties of the keg. Now there is a solution.  rPET: M&G is able to use its propri- etary Bico PET technology in order to produce PET (standard or barrier) including 10-20% recycled PET in the resin core. The fact that the M&G rPET is encapsulated in the core of the PET pellet is a key benefit that allows us to overcome the limitations of rPET currently available on the market.  In fact, the current available rPET flakes are not consistent in quality and lead to questions from produc- ers about whether it is food approved and colour consistent across the whole product; what impact the grade will have on bottle appear- ance; and how to guarantee barrier performances. With its BicoPET technology allowing the insertion of rPET into the core of the PET chip, M&G will be able to offer a high- quality, consistent, food-contact- approved resin. W W W . I N T R A V I S . C O M For all Specialty Closures like flip top or push-pull closures as well as dosing inserts and sports caps CapWatcher ® SC Closure Inspection Today. Gentle and safe high speed inspection, including cavity number reading CapWatcher ® III PETplanet: Finally, what would be your key message to the beverage producers? Cécile Bourland: We are investing in PET production technology in order to build the most cost-efficient and state of-the-art PET plants (M&G is currently building the largest PET plant in the world in Corpus Christi, Texas, with start-up scheduled for Q3 2017). In addition, we continue to invest in and improve speciality products. In recent years, a number of our developments have been created through collaboration with converters and brand owners. By continuing to have an open dialogue with end users on their needs, M&G can continue to drive investment and development in resin manufacture and produce the best possible product for their ongoing requirements. PETplanet : Thank you very much for talking to us! www.gruppomg.com/en