PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2020

BOTTLE MAKING 17 PET planet Insider Vol. 21 No. 03/20 www.petpla.net major even uses a 15 l PET container. Smaller EO pack sizes, especially 2 l, are also now packaged in PET; previously, they were available only in HDPE. Speciality PET grades have been developed by RIL for niche appli- cations, such as “high barrier” for oxygen & carbon dioxide; opaque for light sensitive packaging; slow crystallising resin for bulk packages; and injection moulding grade resins, among others. In non-bottle segments, Reliance sees a future for PET primarily in replacing styrenics (including polysty- rene) and PC (polycarbon- ate) in injection moulded items like stationary prod- ucts. RIL has developed a special PET grade, RELPET IM5590, for this end-use. The resin has the required properties for manufacture of injection moulded prod- ucts. Reliance is equally active in the field of recycling and sustainability eco-system. It has set up over 70 of a total of around 500 “reverse vending machines” (RVMs) for recycling PET bottles around the country. This initiative is helping the PET community to generate awareness of the utility of post-consumer PET bot- tles, both among the people and Government bodies. It is worth noting that empty used PET bottles are removed from the streets by lower social groups and then recycled. RVMs, along with the organised recycling system, has helped India to reach a PET recycling rate of 92%. RPET products are cur- rently used for non-bottle applications; current legis- lation prohibits PET to be used in food product pack- aging. As the polyester fibre industry already has capac- ity, all the recycled PET bot- tles collected stay in India only for fibre applications. Recycled PET bottles are used as raw material in textiles such as blankets, T-shirts, pillows strappings. RELPET resin made by Reliance (in addition to that supplied in domestic market) is exported to different countries. “RIL exports globally to Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East and Latin America, with a primary focus on adjoining geography,” said Vishal Mall. RIL’s team supports converters globally both for market development and technical services. The PET packaging market in India has grown exponentially and continues to expand into new areas. “Reliance is proud to be a part of this success story and continues to strive along with other stake holders to co-develop new packaging solu- tions. India is set to go far beyond the milestone of 1mn TPA of PET con- sumption in 2019-20!” Atanu Biswas concludes. www.ril.com repi.com COLOUR & ADDI T IVE SOLUT IONS TO BOOST A CIRCULAR ECONOMY R E D U C E R E U S E R E C Y C L E R E F I T BOOTH A28