PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2020

PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 05/20 www.petpla.net 51 TRADE SHOW REVIEW German Technology “I’m green” is a new biobased drop-in solution for polyethylene in the circular economy which was introduced by Tim Wagler, Comme- cial Director Renewable Chemicals, Europe & Asia, from Braskem. Mr Leoš Vrzalík from Asahi Breweries Europe Group talked about strategic challenges in sustainable beer pack- aging. He concentrated on two major principles of sustainability in packag- ing: Circularity and materials which need to be recyclable, reusable and reduced. A further presentation was given by Pedro Oliveira, Business Manager and Business Development on PET Systems at Husky. He sees the chal- lenges of the future in the amount of waste produced, which will continue to increase due to the growing popula- tion. Pedro explains that worldwide 2,000 million tons of solid waste are produced per year. 80 million tons of this are plastic waste and of these 9 million tonnes are PET bottles. He went on that there has to be a change. He gave an overview on the legisla- tion and commitment landscape (e.g. in 2022 Germany: Recycling target to 63%, 70% reusable beverage packag- ing; India: Eliminate all SUP; EU: SUP Directive in effect; US: California 10% PCR in bottles). He further mentioned the commitment of the brand owners, converters and retailers who have ambition aims in using up to 100% rPET in their bottles. Pedro continued in presenting Husky’s sustainable enablers. He referred to companies and associa- tions that Husky works with to enable sustainable production in different projects. With light weighting the preforms and with a special design for sustainability Husky produces premium 100% rPET preforms in a direct melt on the new HyPET HPP5e. He explained that the advantage of this technology e.g. is the Universal Melt Interface with a continuous-to- batch converter (dual shooting pot). It minimises heat cycles and has a high precision melt control. Another highlight of the confer- ence was the talk of An Vossen, Executive Manager of Plarebel. She talked on “Towards a higher recycling rate for plastic packaging in the cir- cular economy - Challenges and tips for the packaging industry”. Her most important statement was that plastic is recyclable and that strong cooperation between the industry and the entire value chain is necessary. She calls for a revolution in plastic recycling, because all thermoplasts are recy- clable on their own. The challenge is to turn a complex mixture of plastic packaging into high quality recyclates. She calls for greater flexibility in the rapidly evolving packaging market, encourages companies to comply with the guidelines for recyclable pack- aging and to take this into account during the development process and, last but not least, communication with consumers and more information. After two days of highly interesting presentations and a perfectly organ- ised event, Polyone customers left the conference well informed and with many new contacts. PETplanet thanks Polyone very much for the invitation to this thoroughly successful seminar. www.polyone.com Pedro Oliveira, Business Manager and Business Development on PET Systems Husky An Vossen, Executive Manager Plarebel