PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2021

PET products 44 PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 01+02/21 www.petpla.net PET preform that helps to extend shelf life Global plastic packaging manu- facturer Retal is actively working with a leading food and agri-business to manufacture a PET preform that helps to extend the shelf life of its popular refrigerated drinking yoghurt in Africa. To achieve this, Retal is adding ColorMatrix Lactra SX Light Blocking Additive to its monolayer PET bottles for the multi- national producer’s refrigerated drinking yoghurt specifically for the Nigerian market. The PolyOne additive is claimed to block 99.9% of light, thus protecting the dairy product. Jiri Nydrle, Sales manager at Retal Czech, is working directly with the customer and said “Light blocking is a par- ticularly hot topic in the African dairy market and, at present, we only export this monolayer PET preform with the Lactra additive as there is not the current demand for dairy milk in PET bottles in Europe as cartons have a clear dominance in the UHT sector.” He continued: “The brand owner in Nigeria had a break in their supply chain so we were asked to help by our valued long-term partner Caraway Africa Nigeria Ltd. Our sales director got the initial contact and he was able to quickly close the deal. The whole offer was discussed online and we were able to agree prices and arrange for ten containers to be sent to Nigeria. It was a very effective method of commu- nication and kept everything moving quickly; it shows a new way of working.” With all the constituents of the solid masterbatch ColorMa- trix Lactra SX Light Blocking Additive certified as food safe, it offers a good way to extend shelf life without impacting the product quality; drinking yoghurt in Lactra preforms has a six month refrigerated shelf life. Lactra does not need to be dried before processing; it is solid state pellets that are added as close as possible to the extruder entrance, and it creates an opaque white preform with an almost total light block. Retal expects to see continued demand for preforms with Lactra in other countries as it delivers good refrigerated shelf- stability for dairy products without adding weight as monolayer PET is used. www.retalgroup.com Tethered caps solutions On July 3, 2019, the EU published a far-reaching regu- lation. According to the legislative text, plastic closures must remain attached to the bottle during consumption by July 2024 at the latest. As an experienced company for the development of plastic closures, CCT Systems has started the development work on these international requirements. The following objectives have been defined internally as guidelines for this development:  Uncompromising compliance with the EU’s specified requirement, especially the fixing of the closure to the bottle should be stable and can only be overcome with aids.  The existing handling of the consumers for opening and closing of the closure should not be negatively affected.  The solution found should work on all different bottle neck sizes up to 48mm in diameter.  The solution found should work for non-carbonated as well as carbonated beverages.  Investment in the industries concerned should be as low as possible. Already on May 10, 2019, a patent for the corresponding tethered caps could be filed with the German Patent Office. On April 9, 2020, the patent was granted with Patent No. 10 2019 112 259 and the grant of the patent was published. An international patent application PCT/EP2020/061353 was filed on April 23, 2020 and published under the publication number WO2020/229134 on November 19, 2020. Characteristics of CCT tethered cap solution:  Usual & easy handling  Safe application  Stable connection of the cap to the plastic bottle  No change to: Capper, filling line, slitting technology  Closures can be produced in injection moulding and com- pression technology  Only a 2mm increased distance between the holding ring of the tamper-evident band and the transferring ring is required at the neck of the bottle. Due mainly to the global pandemic, CCT Systems is no longer able to market the existing international property rights or related products worldwide on its own. For this reason, CCT Systems is looking for cooperation partners or alternatively interested parties for the worldwide marketing of the existing property rights and the necessary documents and constructions. www.cct-systems.com CAPS & CLOSURES