PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2019

69 PRODUCTS PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 06/19 www.petpla.net PET products Side T-handle’s global presence Side, based in Barce- lona, Spain, has seen a world-wide increase in the number of PET blow mould- ing machines producing T-handle bottles, which, it is hoped, will replace HDPE bottles. On February 19, a new company has been incorporated into the T-handle team in Mexico. Envaserv SA de CV, one of the biggest bottle makers in Mexico valley, will shortly be in a posi- tion to supply T-handle bottles to the Mexican market. In this system for producing container with handles, the handle is formed during the blowing process, without the need for any further changes to the con- tainer. The versatile application is suitable for the production of PET containers with handles of up to 4 l. Since the presentation of the T-handle, at the NPE Show in Orlando few years ago, Side has installed more than 40 solutions for T-handle bottles globally, with a huge and diversified potential market, from softener, detergents, juices, milk, edible oil, water, and many more. www.sidemachines.com One-piece bottle and spout design Rigid containers with internal threads and drain-back pour spouts have tradi- tionally been made with multiple materials – typically, HDPE blow-moulded bottles with an injection-moulded PP spout fitting – which have required dedicated tool- ing and, because of the mixed materials, have been difficult, expensive or even impossible to recycle. R&D Leverage has developed a new design that is easier to produce, is made of a single material and is completely recyclable. It is made in one piece, entirely of PET, as a single-stage injection stretch blow moulded bottle, with internal threads. As it is made as a single unit, multiple processing is not required. PET is already the most recycled plastic in the US, so its recyclability is already established, both in principle and with infrastructure. R&D Leverage is promoting its design as a ‘green’ solution for multiple-pour liquid packaging. www.rdleverage.com Compounds to extend useful life of PET bottles Sabic introduced its LNP Elcrin iQ portfolio of PBT compounded resins derived from rPET to support the circular economy and help reduce plastic waste. By chemically upcycling consumer-dis- carded PET (primarily single-use water bottles) into higher-value PBT materials with enhanced properties and suitability for more-durable applications, the com- pany is encouraging the use of recycled resins. These products are claimed to offer a smaller cradle-to-gate environ- mental footprint than virgin PBT resin, as measured by Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and Global Warming Potential (GWP). This technology is intended to over- come some of the limitations of mechani- cal recycling by using chemical processes to depolymerise PET bottles and other PET waste into their precursor chemi- cals, purify them and then use them to create new PBT resin. The technology can deliver performance and processing benefits such as good chemical resist- ance, colourability, high flow for faster throughput and flame retardance (FR). LNP Elcrin iQ resin is a drop-in solu- tion for virgin PBT and other conventional PBT materials, making it easier for manu- facturers to make their products more sustainable. By displacing virgin raw material used to manufacture PBT, LNP Elcrin iQ resin has been shown through peer-reviewed life cycle assessment to reduce the energy and carbon footprint of the material by up to 61 percent and 49 percent, respectively. Further, each kilogram of LNP Elcrin iQ resin uses up to 67 post-consumer PET water bottles (0.5 liter). The Elcrin iQ portfolio offers custom- ers multiple options, including glass- and mineral-reinforced grades and non-hal- ogenated FR and UV-resistant formula- tions. Some of the grades are claimed to have the potential to achieve compli- ance with U.S. Food & Drug Association (FDA) food contact regulations. Potential applications for these new polymers include durable internal and aesthetic components for consumer electronics, automotive connectors, and housings for medical devices. Such applications can extend the useful life of the original, single-use PET resin, which helps keep the material out of the waste stream for a longer period. www.sabic.com