PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2018

BOTTLE MAKING 40 PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 06/18 www.petpla.net Preforms, bottles and closures from Plastiserd, Tahiti PET in paradise by Kay Barton French Polynesia is probably the ultimate travel destination for holidaymakers. Some of the world’s best (and most expensive) hotel chains and resorts attract around 200,000 sun-seek- ers a year to the endless sandy beaches and the innumerable islands and atolls. The island of Tahiti, with its capital Papeete, serves as a base for some and the key transportation hub for many more; it is from there that tourists fan out to visit world-famous dream islands such as Bora Bora and Moorea. The 4,000,000km 2 of water over which the islands are distributed compares with a terrestrial area of just 4,000km 2 . Geographically it is in the centre of the Pacific Ocean, between Australia and South America. The islands are extremely isolated but have become noteworthy for the development of their self-contained economy. Group Martin is believed to be the biggest local employer. Its “Brasserie de Tahiti” Group includes “Plastiserd”, the plastics processing division. It pro- duces PET preforms, PET bottles and closures in numerically small produc- tion runs – the ideal setup for the local market. Its other divisions produce a variety of containers for food and non- food, as well as extrusion-moulded products for home and garden, and the construction sector. Brasserie de Tahiti uses PET bottles produced by Plastiserd in bottling operations for Coca-Cola, and for packaging its Eau Royale and the hi-level brand “O Tahiti” water product. These all added up to an excellent series of reasons for PETplanet to make a somewhat unconventional journey to the other side of the world, to meet General Manager Bruno Bellanger for an inter- view and to tour his company. Bruno Bellanger is practically part of the furniture in Plastiserd. He first joined the company in 1988 as a first job after engineering school, then worked in the quality management division and has been the company’s Managing Direc- tor since 1996. Group Martin, its parent, is 100% family owned and is currently managed by its President, Jean-Pierre Fourcade, the grandson of founder Emile Martin. It began its life in the power generation sector. Brasserie de Tahiti is divided into three companies. “Jus de fruits de Moorea” produces juices (also from locally produced fruits, such as as pineapple) and rum; “SDA” produces premium water in 5 gallon containers, sells Nespresso capsules and Polyne- sian food products; and Plastiserd, the location for our interview. As well as pro- cessing plastics, Plastiserd, under Tahiti Sign brand manufactures advertising media such as signs and banner prints and, under the Tahiti Access brand, makes entrance and garage doors from aluminium. “In January this year (2018) the group completed the acquisition of Pearl Beach Group, the local resort chain”, Mr Bellanger said, indicating a collection of photos of over-water bun- galows on his screen. “We were already shareholders. Here in French Polyne- sia it is extremely important to remain flexible, which is why we operate in so many different areas”, he contin- ued. “Taxes on imported products are kept intentionally high, in the interests of boosting local manufacturing and creating jobs, which would probably not otherwise occur because of our remote geographical location and the low local population.” The region is generally expensive, even away from the glitzy world of the high-end resorts. Energy costs are huge; Plastiserd currently pays approxi- mately €1.4 million per year for energy, we were told. The company was founded in 1977 and produced PVC bottles until 1980/1981. That was the year it pro- duced its first PET bottles, on new blow moulding equipment under license from French company Carnaud-Kerplas. In In discussions with MD Bruno Bellanger Closure testing in the laboratory