PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2020

TOP TALK PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 11/20 www.petpla.net 13 A. Funcia: At Sukano we work mainly in partnership with customers, developing dedicated product per- formance according to their specific needs. We certainly see a bright future, and we dedicate a lot of attention and work on products that support alterna- tive ends of life, such as mechanical recycling and organic recycling (certi- fied compostable), depending on what the end application of the final article and geographical location requires. Through masterbatch formulation, we design products that our partners can use to go monomaterial in PET, for instance our transparent impact modi- fier for cold application, which enable replacement of GAG films by fully recyclable PET designed trays, or our compostable certified PLA and PBS masterbatches portfolio for food pack- aging applications. In addition and aligned to the EU Green Deal strategy and recovery plan, we also have NIR detectable and certified blacks, colours and white masterbatches for bottle-to-bottle closed loop applications in PET dairy food. One of our key and most chal- lenging projects is working in partner- ship with leading companies such as Gneuss and Illig, along with the sup- port of Veolia, to supply the recycled PET flakes from the German yellow bags, to prove and manufacture ther- mostable CPET trays from recycled PET non-clear bottles. This is our vision: a world with dedicated eco- nomically viable PET waste streams to enable PET plastic parts to circulate, keeping them in the economy and out of the environment. PETplanet: Fortunately, when pro- ducing masterbatches and additives today, we also automatically think of recycling. You are very familiar with the topic of recycling. You lead the working group recycling of opaque and functional PET bottles at Petcore Europe. What are your tasks there and what results have you achieved in this working group? A. Funcia: Sukano is an active member of Petcore and I am the company´s representative at the asso- ciation. Earlier this year I was kindly invited to take the role of Chairwoman of the Opaque and Functional PET bottles as Gian de Belder from P&G was assigned to another role. As a representative of the PET value chain players, PETCore focuses on ensuring that all PET article is responsibly placed in the EU market, so once it is collected, it can also be effectively recycled and returned into the economy or remain in the economy as long as possible. The overarching goals of our actions at Petcore are that all PET products meet European Regulations, mean- ing essential requirements to be fully recyclable. Specifically, to our opaque and functional bottles working group we have: MISSION- Identify, foster, communicate and promote outlets/end applications for non clear (opaques), sleeved and functional rPET bottles. And our Vision is “All opaque and functional bottles (and trays) are recy- clable, collected and recycled”. We were already able to iden- tify and quantify the amount of white opaque PET bottles available today in the market, per key EU member states, and we are now focusing via four task forces activities within the WG, in viabilising the effective recy- cling of white PET opaque contain- ers using different business models, according to the infrastructure of each country identified as major consumers of white PET opaque. PETplanet: One last question for you: Where do you see the plastics processing industry in 10 years? - Besides Covid-19, what about the EU Plastic Strategy, the recycling industry and the trend towards a sustainable lifestyle? A. Funcia: At Sukano #wearepar- tofthesolution, all our action plans and strategic activities boil down into the same basket. We walk the talk, there- fore we are confident that the world can and will co-exist sustainably with plastics. Not all plastics, that is clear. Not all formats and designs we live with nowadays. We believe in science! A rational and scientific based approach for a selection of the mate- rial and product design/structure will lead us positively into the direction of a waste-free and circular material environment where the society can benefit responsibly and jointly with the industry and government. PETplanet: Thank you very much! Read more about antiviral master- batch solutions of Sukano: www.sukano.com/en/company/ news /sukano-masterbatches-demon- strate-long-term-antiviral-effect