PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2020

PREFORM PRODUCTION PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 12/20 www.petpla.net 20 Voices from the Industry Preform production in 2020 For a preform special, PETplanet asked preform producers from all over the world about preform trends in 2020 (I), how recycling is already being considered during preform production and which components could be important (II) and last but not least we asked about their current business situation (III). We thank PDG Plastiques, Retal, Chemco Group and Eskapet for their answers. PDG Plastiques I) We are currently getting more demand for the use of rPET in pre- forms, but optimisation and weight lighting continue to be major trend. II) In France, we have seen grow- ing demand for an rPET content of 15%-25%, but we are also increas- ingly being asked for an rPET content of 50% and 100%. The price of rPET is higher than virgin PET because there is not enough capacity available on the market. The increase in bottle collection and recycling plants capaci- ties will bene fi t the market and help to develop the use of rPET in preforms. III) There were increases and decreases for preforms during the pandemic but globally the demand has increased, mainly for dairy and milk preforms, but also for hydroalco- holic gel preforms. Production globally has increased by 15%. PDG Plastiques has developed and produced the fi rst 100% rPET Opaque UHT milk bottles for Pâturage brand (Intermarché). The material was produced from opaque post-consumer bottles (mainly milk and dairy bottles). It was the fi nal stage in a project by a Consortium of 7 companies involved in milk bottling, PET preforms, recy- cling and distribution (LSDH, LSP, PDG Plastiques, SGT, Paprec, Inter- marché, Carrefour). It has taken two years to fi nalise the complete chain of competences. PDG Plastiques, a leading pro- ducer of PET preforms for the dairy and milk sector, has also developed preforms with complete light barrier and with only 1% or even 0% of TiO 2 in collaboration with Penn Color com- pany. PDG Plastiques has specialised in PET preforms and bottles since 1990. It has 2 plants in France and Algeria. www.pdg-plastiques.com Retal Group I) Two clear trends of 2020 are lightweighting and an increased focus on rPET. In terms of lightweighting, Retal addresses this ongoing trend by saving material in the neck of our preforms. With the logical progression from the PCO1810 to the PCO1881, the next step is the 26/22 neck, a vari- ation of which we already produce at some of our factories. Wider adoption of 26/22 neck was slower due to the SUP directive. Across the industry, we are waiting for a standard of 26/22 neck, suitable for tethered caps to be fully de fi ned. Regarding rPET, as a B2B manufacturer we are driven by the demands of our customers, so in order to promote responsible and sus- tainable plastic packaging solutions, we work together with our customers to be well prepared for any upcoming regulations. II) As our main area of in fl uence, we are committed to working with our customers to integrate design for recycling principles wherever pos- sible, whether that is through advis- ing different colourants or additives in order to support a higher quality col- lection of used plastic packaging and supporting them to make informed design decisions that positively impact on their fi nal product’s recyclability. Our global food and beverage brand customers are certainly keen to meet and often exceed the regulations for rPET content, and we support greater use of recycled materials, gaining advantages through design engineer- ing, and investing further in equipment that allows for the use of a variety of quality grades and colours to create rPET packaging. III) The pandemic allowed for the positive characteristics of plastics to be visible, such as the ability to pro- tect food and to create medical-grade barriers. While we have found that a lack of tourist activity and events has reduced demand for smaller volumes, we have seen an increase in demand for larger volumes, with that shift in sales in constant fl ux as the situation evolves, and our production teams and extensive warehousing able to respond quickly to the needs of our customers. www.retalgroup.com Chemco Group I) For Chemco the focus remained the same; most of our machines were dedicated to the beverage, water, oil and dairy industries. Industries affected adversely by the Covid-19 pandemic also were able to access other non-traditional channels (like internet sales) to make up for some of their lost business. Recycled and PREFORMS