No.03 2023 www.petpla.net D 51178; ISSN: 1438-9452 20 . 03 . 23 PETplanet is read in more than 140 countries MAGAZ I NE FOR BOT T L E R S AND BOT T L E - MAK E R S IN THE AMER ICAS, AS IA, EUROPE AND AL L AROUND THE PLANET MARKETsurvey Suppliers of preform machinery Page 28 Page 31 CAPS & CLOSURES Page 16
The all-new PET-LINE comes with a variety of advantages to maximize output and minimize costs: • Maximum compatibility with legacy molds and PMC • Shortest cycle times for increased output • Lowest level of energy consumption to minimize the ecological footprint • Improved 100 % rPET processing to enable the circular economy • New control unit including Smart Operation to ensure easy, fast and safe start-up and production • Available with 3000, 4000 and 5000 kN clamping force More details on www.netstal.com FLIPPING THE WORLD OF PET UPSIDE DOWN AND EVEN SIDEWAYS THE ALLNEW PETLINE WITH SIDE ENTRY. SCAN ME
No.03 2023 www.petpla.net D 51178; ISSN: 1438-9452 20 . 03 . 23 PETplanet is read in more than 140 countries MAGAZ I NE FOR BOT T L E R S AND BOT T L E - MAK E R S IN THE AMER ICAS, AS IA, EUROPE AND AL L AROUND THE PLANET MARKETsurvey Suppliers of preform machinery Page 28 Page 31 CAPS & CLOSURES Page 16
We think about your caps, so you can think of everything else. www.corvaglia.com
imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Hubweg 15 74939 Zuzenhausen, Germany phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 info@petpla.net EDITORIAL Kay Barton Heike Fischer Gabriele Kosmehl Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Anthony Withers WikiPETia. info petplanet@petpla.net MEDIA CONSULTANTS Martina Hirschmann hirschmann@petpla.net Johann Lange-Brock lange-brock@petpla.net phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 LAYOUT AND PREPRESS EXPRIM Werbeagentur | exprim.de Matthias Gaumann READER SERVICES reader@petpla.net PRINT Chroma Druck Eine Unternehmung der Limberg-Druck GmbH Danziger Platz 6 67059 Ludwigshafen, Germany WWW www.hbmedia.net | www.petpla.net PETplanet Insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ subscription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trademarks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net Dear readers, The European Commission has published its Technical Report on Plastic Waste* which looks at all plastic waste streams from shredded electrical equipment and flexible plastic packaging to PET bottles and trays. It then explores mechanical, physical and chemical recycling using case studies, industry data and reference material. After 73 closely-printed pages and hundreds of illustrations, the mechanical recycling of PET packaging (bottles and trays) comes out best of all 27 plastic fractions, with 2,000 kg of CO2 savings per fraction of a tonne! You as readers and we as editors have always known this and it is encouraging that the European Commission now agrees with us. The report meanders its way through the waste mountain for another 50 pages of small print and colourful graphics. An assessment of the future highlighted in a number of scenarios is exciting. Physical and chemical recycling in particular consumes a lot of energy and with it CO2 and, as a result, will be unable to compete with mechanical recycling for many years to come. Conversely, the costs involved in mechanical recycling are reasonably stable (collection, transport, processing) while other processes are dependent on the price of energy and consequently very likely to become more and more expensive. Not even optimised reactors and plants will be able to negate major increases in prices. So, dear readers, we will still be meeting at flaking mills many years from now. Best wishes Alexander Büchler *The full report ‘Environmental and economic assessment of plastic waste recycling - A comparison of mechanical, physical, chemical recycling and energy recovery of plastic waste’ is available at https://op.europa.eu
PETcontents 4 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net 03/2023 Page 14 BOTTLE MAKING 10 Igniting the next stage - Strategic plan for further growth in the Indian packaging market Bottle with glued-in handle for home care & food 12 “We need to work and move forward altogether. This is the only way to go.” - Interview with Maxim Poliansky, CEO of PET Technologies EDITOUR 14 Volvic, a very special natural mineral water - Carefully filled in PET bottles CAPS / CLOSURES 16 Perfect parameters - Interview with Federico Zannier, Arol Group Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer and Maca Engineering Managing Director 18 “Sustainability in production is essential for us” Interview with Michael Krueger, CEO of Corvaglia 20 Closures designed to meet the requirements of tomorrow 22 The closure inspection allrounders 24 High degree of customisation - Water brand Uliveto opts for GME30.40 and chooses ‘Asterix’ closure for its water bottles 25 Browning Motion - Brothers Make a business of saving the planet MARKET SURVEY 28 Suppliers of preform machinery CHINAPLAS PREVIEW 31 Chinaplas 2023 preview 36 Technologies for customisable recycling lines 38 Digital inside - Material and energy savings, ‘smart vision’ inspection & smart pack 39 Machines for food & beverage, pharma, consumer and industrial packaging EVENT REVIEW 40 Blow Moulding 2022 - 6th edition 43 Petcore Europe Annual Conference 2023 - PET value chain in a fast-paced environment for circularity, part 1 BUYER’S GUIDE 48 Get listed! INSIDE TRACK 3 Editorial 4 Contents 6 News 46 On site 47 Patents 54 Outer Planet CAPS & CLOSURES Page 47 Page 22
yellow.agency A FAMILY OWNED SWISS COMPANY. OUR INJEC T ION MOULDS FOR PE T AND PAC F I T THE SWISS MOULD OF PREC ISION CRAF TSMANSHIP. OT TO-HOFSTE T TER . SWISS T OTA LLY SW I S S.
PETnews 6 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net Danone North America to invest up to US $65 million to create a new bottle production line Danone North America announced it will invest up to US $65 million over the next two years to create a new bottle production line in Jacksonville, Florida. The investment is intended to support Danone North America’s long-term growth strategy and to deliver key benefits across the U.S. business, including advancing operational excellence, enabling flexibility in bottle design, accelerating the company’s sustainability goals, and driving cost efficiencies. This multi-million-dollar investment will increase production of several of Danone’s coffee and creamer brands in the U.S., including International Delight, Silk and Stok. It also serves to meet consumer demand in these categories while supporting the company’s sustainability goal by reducing overall water consumption, decreasing carbon emissions and accelerating the company’s goal of packaging circularity. The expansion will also create up to 40 new full-time jobs with competitive wages and benefits. New employees will be eligible for Danone North America’s parental bonding leave policy, enabling all manufacturing employees with one year of tenure to take up to 18 weeks of paid time off after the birth or adoption of a child. www.danonenorthamerica.com Berry and Coca-Cola collaborate to implement tethered caps in EU markets Berry Global Group, Inc. is the first plastic packaging manufacturer in Europe to supply The Coca-Cola Company with a lightweight, tethered closure for its carbonated soft drinks in PET bot t les. Bolstered by EU Single-Use Plastics Directive, Berry’s new tethered closure for Coca-Cola is designed to remain intact with the bottle – making it less likely to be littered and more likely to be recycled. In 2019, Coca-Cola held a supplier event to brief for this project. Berry – who has had an existing supply relationship with Coca-Cola for more than 20 years – was short-listed as a supplier in January 2020. Over 400 million closures have been applied to date on Coca-Cola bottling lines in Germany, Spain and the UK, with the rollout to continue to the company’s other European plants. Maintaining a convenient and comfortable user experience, in addition to product safety and security, Berry’s new tethered closure for Coca-Cola features a special tamper-evident band that, once broken, does not impact the closure’s ability to remain attached and is positioned out of the way for drinking but can easily be reclosed. When open, it is claimed to provide a wide angle for easy access to the beverage and comfortable on-the-go drinking. Berry’s closure for Coca-Cola is based on its patented CompactFlip hinge solution which unscrews and flips-open intuitively, according to Berry. It is the first to be used in conjunction with the new lightweight 26mm GME30.40 neck, developed by Cetie (The International Technical Centre for Bottling) Single-Use Plastics Group, of which Berry is a member. The new neck finish is claimed to deliver an over 1 g saving in PET compared to the current PCO-1881 neck. Combined with a 10% weight reduction from the Berry closure, the new pack is now around 20% lighter than the PCO-1881 version, states the company. Berry says that the production process remains the same, however, the filling line needed fine-tuning – with adjustments to feeding lines, capping chucks and cameras. www.berryglobal.com ALL- IN- ONE-MACHINE ASSEMBLY FOLDING SLITTING TETHERED CAP CONTEXO GMBH Tel. +49 (0) 7181 / 606-100 info@contexo-gmbh.de www.contexo-automation.de
7 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 Construction of the largest recycling plant for food-grade PET/HDPE plastic in Vietnam Alba Group Asia, a provider of waste management and recycling solutions and VietCycle, a nationally established waste collection and plastics recycl ing company in Vietnam, announced the launch of a cooperation to jointly develop the largest plast ics recycl ing plant for food-grade PET/HDPE in Vietnam. At the signing of the cooperation agreement in the capital Hanoi, high representatives of the government of Vietnam and the German embassy confirmed contribution of the project to one of the most urgent environmental problems in the country and pledged their support. They are aware that Vietnam is one of the biggest polluters of the world’s oceans, according to the World Bank. Every year, Vietnam discharges about 3 million tonnes of plastic waste on land and an estimated 0.28 to 0.73 mi l l ion tonnes of plastics waste into the ocean. Across Vietnam, local governments are struggling to collect, transport, treat and dispose of their growing waste streams. Rapid urbanisation combined with increasing economic and population growth will further increase the volume of waste, according to Dr Alex Schweitzer, Chairman Interzero. Together wi th Vi etCyc l e, Interzero wants to tackle this challenge: The investment sum for the planned plant will be up to 50 million US dollars. Interzero aims for a capacity of up to 48,000 t/a. The first phase of operation is expected to start in 2024/2025. The project will use modern technologies to produce food-grade PET/HDPE following international standards set by the EU. Through this partnership, VietCycle’s network can grow and offer a significantly larger number of informal waste collectors an upgrade of their work, which is so important for Vietnam. Gender equality and social inclusion in the collection system and in the plastic recycling sector are among the key objectives of the partnership. Hoang Duc Vuong, Chairman of VietCycle Joint Stock Company, said: “Working with Alba Group Asia helps us realise our dream of recycling plastic waste based on advanced technology, contributing to sustainability and humanity.” In addition to the promising partnership and significant contribution to combating climate change in Vietnam, the expansion of the network will enable Interzero and VietCycle to reach many of today’s still very disadvantaged collectors and improve their lives by offering training and social security services. www.interzero.de/en/
8 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net Specials at Interpack open up new perspectives At Interpack from May 4 to 10, 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany, there will be numerous new special areas and promotions to complement the offerings of the approximately 2,700 exhibitors. I n t erpack s t ands f or produc t launches, technological news and packaging innovations, according to the organisers. These will be highlighted this year through award ceremonies. The “WorldStar Packaging Awards” 2023, which will be presented by the World Packaging Organisation, WPO, at Interpack. A total of 228 award winners demonstrates the innovative strength of the industry. The “PackTheFuture Award” of the German IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen and its French partner Elipso will also be handed out during interpack. This year’s Interpack also features new categories: Gift Packaging, Digital Packaging and the special category Accessible Packaging. There will also be a new Start-up zone in hall 15, where innovations from software solutions for recycling or the supply chain, sustainable materials or packaging will be presented. “Spotlight talks & trends” at Interpack means seven days of input around the most important topics and trends in the industry, best practices, exciting applications and their drivers for innovation and growth. Deutscher Fachverlag is the partner of the lecture forum. Each day of the trade fair will have a different focus topic and will feature presentations, case studies and interactive sessions with top industry experts. The focus will be on topics related to logistics, circular economy, sustainability, digital technologies, product safety and e-commerce. Companies such as Siemens, Schütz and Markem-Imaje have already announced their attendance for presentations. www.interpack.com Alpek shutdown of PET resin operations at its Cooper River site Alpek, S.A.B. de C.V. announced the shutdown of its PET resin operations at its Cooper River site near Charleston, South Carolina, USA for an indefinite period. The site was built in the early 1970’s, has an installed capacity of 170,000 t of PET resin, and represents approximately 2% of Alpek’s total assets. Alpek is consistently looking for ways to create value by optimising its footprint and increasing its cost competitiveness. As such, it has been growing with more efficient assets that maintain the company as one of the leaders in its industry. Alpek will transfer Cooper River’s PET resin production to its other sites, enabling cost reductions of approximately U.S. $20 million at an annualised rate and improvements in capacity utilisation. www.alpek.com STF America announces the sale of what will be the first PET bottle washing plant in the Dominican Republic STF Group of Germany and Zimmer America Corp. announce the sale of an STF PET bottle washing plant in the Dominican Republic, the first of its kind in the country. The line will be installed at Cilpen Global Business s.r.l., a major waste and plastic recycler on the island. The line has a capacity of 2.5 metric t/h (5,500 lbs/h) output of PET flakes and features STF machinery manufactured in Germany, such as the screening trommel, label scraper, star screen, grinder, washing, drying, and flake separation machinery, as well as a complete water re-circulation system. Installation of the line will begin in the first quarter of 2024. www.stf-group.de
9 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net Napcor releases Life Cycle Assessment for beverage container systems The National Association for PET Container Resources (Napcor) released a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that compares PET, glass and aluminium carbonated soft drink (CSD) and still water beverage container systems. The assessment found that PET plastic bottles, when compared to aluminium cans and glass bottles, are significantly better for the environment. The study was completed by Franklin Associates, a leading LCA consulting firm and pioneer in the field, and went through an extensive peer review and verification process. Findings show that when it comes to the best beverage packaging for the environment, the answer is PET. Compared to glass and aluminium beverage containers, PET plastic bottles create less solid waste, use less water during production and generate fewer emissions that contribute to acid rain and smog. If U.S. consumers selected PET plastic bottles instead of glass bott les for their soda beverages over the course of one year, it would be the same as: The amount of GHG emissions avoided by recycling instead of landfilling nearly 53,000 garbage trucks of waste; The carbon sequestered by adding almost 1.3 million acres of U.S. forest. Similarly, if US residents choose PET plast ic bott les instead of aluminium cans for their soda beverages over the course of one year, resulting impacts would be the same as: Conserving 4.4 billion liters of water; Remov ing 688,000 gas powered cars off the road annually; Diverting 138 million bags filled with trash for recycling versus landfills. The LCA compared the most commonly used beverage containers for carbonated soft drinks and still water and found that a 16.9 ounce PET plastic water bottle compared to a standard-size 12 ounce aluminium can: Creates 80% less solid waste; Uses 53% less water during production; Has 74% lower global warming potential; Generates 68-83% fewer emissions that contribute to the formation of acid rain and smog. The cradle-to-grave LCA looked at commonly used PET plastic, glass and aluminium beverage containers for CSD and still water. It found that glass tends to have the highest environmental impacts, followed by aluminium and then PET bottles. PET plastic bottles are a more sustainable beverage container option and have a lower impact on several key environmental metrics, including greenhouse gas emissions, energy demand, water consumption, smog, acid rain and eutrophication potential. www.napcor.com
BOTTLE MAKING 10 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net Strategic plan for further growth in the Indian packaging market Igniting the next stage by Kay Barton Manjushree Technopack Limited from Bangalore, India, has set itself ambitious goals under the motto “MTL 2.0”, the company, which is one of the leading plastics processors in the subcontinent, announced as early as 2020 that it wanted to triple its turnover. Now, in the next step, a six- to seven-fold growth is planned by 2026. Reason enough to get to the bottom of the matter and have a conversation in a relaxed atmosphere with Technical Director Vijay Kumar Baheti and the Managing Director Thimmaiah Napanda. We visited: Manjushree Technopack Limited December 2, 2022 We met: Mr Vijay Kumar Baheti, Technical Director Mr Thimmaiah Napanda, Managing Director & CEO Manjushree Technopack currently has 23 factories across India. Since its acquisition by Advent International in 2018, the largest rigid plastic packaging producer has grown rapidly. We are sitting in the meeting room of the Phase 2 industrial estate in the Electronic City district, about 45 minutes from Bangalore city centre. Taking the seat across from us is the man who is rooted to the company like no other. Vijay Kumar Baheti has been with Manjushree for over 20 years. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani and can look back on 40 years of experience in the plastics industry. He began at Manjushree as Director of Operations, and has been in his current position since 2004. “Things have been going well for us over the last few years,” he explained. “The pandemic and now the situation with Russia have not really hurt us economically. It’s only the global price increases that we felt and still feel a little bit here and there.” Investments, he said, have continued steadily over the past few years, and energy and production efficiency have also been further optimised. Mr Baheti smiled and further explained, “The new target I want to announce to you today is to grow our sales six to seven times. It is a very pleasant challenge.” We ask what exactly the whole thing is expected to look like. “We want to further expand our capacities and implement new technologies. Existing equipment will be continuously upgraded accordingly. We also want to establish more locations, both through company takeovers and by establishing new factories. Possibly even on a global scale.” Currently, the company has a machine park of more than 20 Husky preform systems at various locations, more than 300 Nissei ASB single-stage systems, over 15 Sacmi compression moulding lines plus hundreds of IMM, IBM and EBM lines. With the recent acquisitions of Pearl Polymers 2020, Classy Kontainers and Hitesh Plastics in 2022, in-house production of caps and closures by multiple compression moulding lines also became an important feature.“In the spirit of EPR and to complete the process chain in a meaningful way, we are now also expanding into plastics recycling,” explained Mr Baheti. Specifically, the company has been operating a recycling plant in Bangalore to process HDPE and PP under the “Born Again” brand since mid-2020. The capacity is 6,000 t annually. Plastic waste is collected, for example, in cooperation with the environmental and social enterprise Sahara Zero Waste, which collects plastic waste from various urban areas for further processing. The Indian government’s goal is to have 30% recycled content in new packaging by 2026. In the next big step, Manjushree now wants to tackle the issue of PET recycling. With the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) deciding in summer 2022 that rPET can also be used in beverage and food packaging in the future, which has been discussed for many years but is only now to be permitted by law, there will be immense opportunities to keep PET bottles in circulation by the time the legislation is expected to be finalised in 2025. Mr Baheti explained how the recycling project will work: “To get the process underway, we will probably start by working with recyclers. The possibilities are endless in the long run. Basically, every state in India would need ten recycling plants of its own to optimise the processing of waste from a logistical and economic point of view. In any case, we have plans to expand the recycling division in India, as well as to expand existing capacities. We are fully prepared to meet these challenges with confidence. Whatever it will take to implement our strategies and achieve our goals, we are committed to do.” www.manjushreeindia.com F.l.t.r.: Vijay Kumar Baheti, Kay Barton and Thimmaiah Napanda
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BOTTLE MAKING 12 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net “We need to work and move forward altogether. This is the only way to go.” Russia’s war against Ukraine, which is contrary to international law, has been going on for a year now. PETplanet spoke to Maxim Poliansky, CEO of PET Technologies, about production conditions, challenges and his assessment for the coming six months. PET Technologies plant is located in Chernihiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, about 80 km from the Belarusian border and 140 km north of Kyiv. PETplanet: What is the current economic situation of the PET and plastic packaging industry in Ukraine? Poliansky: The PET container market in Ukraine is keeping pace with the global trend: consumption is growing. This might seem surprising as several bottlers have ceased operations, but their share of the market has been taken over by other producers. In addition, humanitarian demand has actually led to this market growing. The PET container is still the most economic and at the same time most effective type of packaging. We are continuing to see a higher percentage of rPET in bottles and a trend towards reducing PET bottle weight. Milk and vegetable oil is one of the top growth sectors. The beer market was a little sluggish in mid-2022, but by the end of the year it was beginning to move and Inbev, Carlsberg and some middlesized breweries are now coming back to us with their projects. PETplanet: What are your current production conditions? Poliansky: Manufacturing facilities of PET Technologies are in full operation. The number of employees has not significantly reduced since the war started. Some people are still abroad, but 80% of pre-war numbers are working and that percentage is OK for us. Indeed, in some professional sectors we are hiring again. When the Russians began their full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we did our utmost to hold on to our staff and we have achieved this goal. As for production conditions we immediately implemented additional measures at our manufacturing facilities: industrial generators were installed to ensure we had enough electricity in the case of power cuts, and we created alternative supply chains. In this way, all equipment was produced on time; we have kept to the lead-times agreed with the customer. It’s worth highlighting that currently PET Technologies´ lead-time is about average for the market average or even shorter. Usually, we use the western border of Ukraine to export equipment. In this sense, nothing has changed and delivery times have been unaffected. We are still selling in Ukraine and exporting. Even in 2022 we shipped 3 blowers to the USA. PETplanet: What are your strategies to lead your company through these difficult times? Poliansky: It is now evident that the Ukrainian economy has not come to a halt, despite the war. Local manufacturers of food and beverages have invested hundreds of thousands of US dollars in PET stretch blow-moulding machines since February 2022! Ukrainians and Ukrainian business have a clear vision – we need to work and move forward altogether. This is the only way to go. Our customers worldwide continue to place orders with PET Technologies, trusting in Ukraine. Some of the regions where we have sold our machines and moulds include Europe, the Middle East (Saudi Arabia takes a lot of our moulds) and the Americas. PET Technologies GmbH, Austria (part of the PET Technologies group) participates significantly in these projects. This March we will be commencing manufacture and commissioning of another machine in the United States, followed subsequently in Mexico. PETplanet: What are the biggest challenges in general and how do you see the next six months? Poliansky: People are our principal resource and our biggest challenge is to look after them in whatever way we can. These are people in our company, together with their families, as well as our city and country itself. We consider our mission to maintain the economic balance of the country. PET Technologies is not just staying fully operational, but we are also continuing to invest in research and development! We have recently extended our newest APF-Max series of blow-moulders with smaller 2 and 3-cavity machines. Soon they will be launched on the market. PET Technologies is continuing to develop into new business directions, expanding its manufacturing facilities and we have already invested in new equipment! PETplanet: Thank you so much Maxim. www.pet-eu.com by Heike Fischer
EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net 14 Carefully fi lled in PET bottles Volvic, a very special natural mineral water Coming from the west of France, we reach the AuvergneRhône-Alpes region. The Massif Central welcomes us. From a distance we can already make out the volcanic landscape of the Chaîne des Puys with its 1,465m high volcano Puy-de-Dôme. This Chaîne des Puys is represented by the silhouette of the Puy Pariou on the label of the water bottler Volvic, and this is our next stop on this tour! Sponsors Arriving at the Volvic factory, we are greeted by Project Manager Michael De Macedo. He is responsible for installing two new PET production lines at Volvic. With enthusiasm and verve, he tells us about the features of this special place and the Volvic source. “Volvic natural mineral water is drawn from the heart of the Auvergne volcanoes. At the heart of the Volvic catchment area, the rainwater infiltration zone, water trickles and percolates for nearly five years in contact with ancient rocks. Throughout its journey in this vast natural filter, water acquires its mineral composition and unique taste. Collected at a depth of between 50 and 100m, the water is bottled directly. It is therefore pumped and transported to the bottling plant through a stainless-steel pipe. Its original purity is maintained from its emergence to its bottling: from the volcanic depths to home, without any chemical treatment. It is never in contact with ambient air until the first time the bottle is opened. Volvic natural mineral water has a low mineral content (= dry residue < 500mg/l), so the whole family can drink as much as they like every day with no limits.” The Volvic production site covers an area of 125,000m2, with an area of 309,000m2 free for further growth, the equivalent of 60 football fields. Around 850 employees with permanent contracts working in the plant. While Michael reports we are guided through a small exhibition area about the history of Volvic company. Finally, we reach the production halls, the heart of the factory. “Today, we have eight production lines for the bottling of Volvic natural mineral water. Seven lines for PET bottles and one for glass bottles in Volvic still water plant. On Volvic Fruit’s plant there are five production lines we are bottling Volvic fruit drinks, while one of them can fill PET bottles and bricks. We produce rPET and vPET preforms on six Husky and one Netstal machines, in a lot of different combinations of resin, dyes and percentage, with neck sizes of 29/25 and 30/25. Our ambition is to produce the whole product range of Volvic out of 100% rPET by 2025.We need to modify all our lines to be able to use tethered caps by the end of the year for Volvic plant and by the end of 2024 for Volvic Fruit plant. We are in a period of big modification on the plant in order to change and modify the machines to be able to implement tethered cap on all our products.” In another production hall we see one new Ergoblock L from Krones as the new line 12. Michael tells us that Volvic chose this technology because it is the most efficient in terms of the quantity of water and air used and in terms of “waste”. For example, there is no more rinsing, if a bottle has a labeling defect, we can eject it before filling Michael De Macedo, Project Manager at Volvic and Heike Fischer, PETplanet Insider The best-selling rPET bottle is the 1.5 l bottle for the German market.
EDITOUR 15 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 it. This is not the case with a Combi or traditional line technology. Furthermore, there are five Sidel Combi, one Combi of Kosme, one Combi by SMI, Blower 5 SBO and some blower of Krupp. Volvic produces still water in 0.33 l, 0.5 l, 0.75 l, 1 l, 1.5 l, and 8 l, carbonated drinks in 0.75 l and 0.45 l bottles. Other flavoured drinks in 0.5 l, 0.75 l, 1 l, 1.5 l according to Michael. “In 2022 we have filled 1,430 billion bottles, which represent 1,770 billion liters in total; from 2017 to 2022 we got stable volumes. Volvic makes 98% of its sales in Europe and its main markets are France, Germany, and UK. Volvic is n°1 in mineral waters in France, n°1 in still mineral waters in Germany, n°1 in flavoured waters in United Kingdom and finally n°1 in flavoured waters in Switzerland“, Michael summarised. “For the future we will have major projects here in the production plant: The bottling lines 11 & 12 will be equipped with innovative technology from Krones, with the Ergobloc. These are lines without rinsing and more precise bottling technologies. From 2017, we have invested 30 million of euros in new lines and we have saved 13% of water. And finally, we have the Re-Use project. The objective of Re-Use is to treat the wastewater in order to obtain potable water quality and to reuse this treated water for equipment cleaning. This project is part of a larger plan for the rational use of water which was contracted between Volvic and the authorities on September 23, 2021. This plan is part of the voluntary roadmap carried out since 2017 to preserve this resource and act in a sustainable way, with a long-term and collective vision. This project could double the water savings achieved by 2025 and change industrial practices by paving the way for other companies,“ Michael states. As we come to the end of our tour through the factory, Michael mentiones that it is special to work for Volvic because the people grow up with the company and really love it. “We also got a beautiful natural resource that we preserved everyday with the Comité Environnement pour la Protection de l’Impluvium de Volvic (CEPIV) and other actors.” www.volvic.com The new Ergoblock L of Krones
CAPS & CLOSURES 16 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net Interview with Federico Zannier, Arol Group Chief Strategy and Commercial Offi cer and Maca Engineering Managing Director Perfect parameters It might be thought that these days everything concerning the implementation of the EU regulation for the tethering of caps revolves around single use bottles. In fact, the conversion process is still ongoing. That apart, development work on other topics does not stand still, as Federico Zannier, Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer Arol Group and Maca Engineering Managing Director, explains. In their Closure Test Laboratory, developers and customers are working constantly on the best parameters to adjust the main characteristics that influence the capping process, to improve the interaction of the closure and preform and to adapt the capping process to the requirements of faster and faster systems. PETplanet: At Maca Engineering, which markets do you cover, geographically and by product segment, and in what volume range do your lines operate in the plastic closure sector for PET bottles? Zannier: We produce three types of equipment at Maca Engineering: complete lines to produce aluminium caps, complete lines for the assembly of plastic caps (for spirits, sports caps, etc.) and end-of- line for slitting folding of plastic caps. Thanks to the extensive Arol network, we cover all areas of the world. PETplanet: When we met at Drinktec last year, your company had just expanded with a new manufacturing facility in San Quirino, Pordenone, Italy. What made this step necessary and how are you positioned now? Zannier: From the acquisition [of Maca Engineering ME in January 2020] onwards we have tried to make available to ME the resources and the global presence of the Arol Group. This has allowed us to give a greater visibility to ME and consequently to stabilise the company on sales volumes that have made necessary the expansion of the plant. We have thus doubled the production capacity. With the new factory, the company occupies a total area of almost 9,500m2, of which 1,000m2 is office space and the remainder to produce components and to assemble machines that are shipped from San Quirino all over the world. But the amount of complete caps production lines is already saturating even this additional acquired capacity. In particular, aluminium and plastic assembly are driving the market but the tethered cap conversion is also giving an important boost to growth. PETplanet: You have also set up a Closure Test Lab for feasibility studies or sample runs. What can be tested and analysed here, in relation to plastic closures? Zannier: The modular Laboratory System produced in collaboration with Arol provides for the possibility to customise the cutting/folding of the plastic cap and then to test the application of the same on a preform. We are thus able to determine in a fully automatic way the most suitable application parameters for a new capping solution. In fact we can simulate any type of application. Our end-of-line systems for caps to be applied on PET bottles are up to a capacity of over 80,000 cph but we also have a range of laboratory solutions suitable for caps manufacturers. PETplanet: In what way do different masterbatch materials for the closures differ in handling? Zannier: The use of resins, colourants or special additives strongly influence the application torque and this is at the expense of the removal torque and therefore the customer experience. It is not uncommon to find two seemingly identical caps that behave differently in the production line and it is here that Arol’s experience with over 25,000 machines installed allows us to quickly identify the most suitable configuration for each application. The use of automatic laboratory systems also means we can identify in advance any problems caused using resins or particular CAPS & CLOSURES Federico Zannier Detail of the slitting/folding process by Gabriele Kosmehl
CAPS & CLOSURES 17 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net CAPS & CLOSURES 17 additives. Arol also continuously runs tests in its own laboratory to support its customers in identifying the most suitable application specifications. PETplanet: The switch to tethered caps for single use bottles has created some buzz in the industry. Has the changeover to tethered solutions already been completed with your customers? Zannier: We are constantly receiving test requests for new solutions, and it would appear that this changeover process is far from being completed. PETplanet: What special challenges do tethered caps have to overcome when it comes to the cutting process? Zannier: If the tethered is oriented, the biggest problem is to find the right solution to put the cap in the most suitable position. If instead it is a matter of 3D cutting, the most critical is to identify the most correct shape for the cutting blade. Here, too, years of experience in the sector has allowed us to better manage, even with innovative solutions, the requirements of the most demanding customers. PETplanet: Besides tethered caps, what other developments are you observing in the field of PET bottle caps? Zannier: The trend is for a faster and faster throughput rather than for lighter sports caps and this can make the assembly stage more challenging. PETplanet: Thank you very much! Italian Arol Group includes Arol Closure System, specialised in the design, manufacture and distribution of capping equipment, feeding and cap orientation machines, Unimac-Gherri, specialist in filling and closing glass containers with twist-off tops for food, Tirelli, focused on packaging equipment for the cosmetics, home and body care industry and Maca Engineering (ME), specialist in designing and manufacturing machines and complete line for the production, assembly and cut of aluminium and plastic caps and closures. www.arol-group.com ITVE-MRR-IRV line for cutting the tamper evident ring, folding the inner flap of caps and inserting pre-cut liners www.sacmi.com Product design Product development Product validation Industrial production plant Process & quality control On-site and start-up assistance After-sales and Customer service SACMI 4.0 THE COMPLETE CLOSURE, PREFORM AND CONTAINER SOLUTION FOR YOUR SMART FACTORY E N D L E S S I N N O V A T I O N S I N C E 1 9 1 9
CAPS & CLOSURES 18 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net “Sustainability in production is essential for us” PETplanet spoke to Michael Krueger, CEO at Corvaglia and Chair at Cetie, about the current production situation and the standardised regulations on tethered cap. Michael Krueger, CEO at Corvaglia and Chair at Cetie CAPS & CLOSURES PETplanet: After the beverage industry had come through the pandemic relatively unscathed, new challenges followed due to the war in Ukraine. Did you have an impact on your business? Krueger: Yes, we had an impact on our business. The most important challenge was the sharp increase of energy prices, which obviously have a significant impact on the manufacturing cost of beverage closures in our Swiss production facility. The Mexican and US production facilities were not impacted on the same level. PETplanet: As a mould and cap producer and as the WG chairperson at Cetie, would you please be so kind and tell us about the current status of the SUP in relation to the tethered caps? Krueger: First, I wanted to thank every stakeholder involved in the process to create the proposal for the harmonised standard EN17665. Almost 100 industry experts worked together intensively in order to create this proposal. It was finalised by the group of experts in March 2022 and subsequently published by CEN. What is still pending before companies can refer to this standard for demonstrating compliance with EU directive 2019/904, Article 6 is the assessment of the EU commission, which took a bit longer than anticipated due to an uncertainty over a formality (the necessity of inclusion of the so-called Annex ZA) between CEN and the EU commission. The pathway to the standard becoming a harmonised standard should now be cleared and I expect the assessment by the EU commission to be finalised within the next 2-3 months. In the meantime, our working group works on a complementary document intended to clarify and provide guidance to users of the standard in its practical application. PETplanet: Since 2020, Corvaglia had increased the overall production of caps. Now the tethered caps have been added. What mould technology and what caps do you offer your customers in terms of a tethered solution? Krueger: A while ago, we introduced a new injection mould technology. We call it “adaptive flex-band technology”. This technology allows combining great applicability for bottlers with premium hinge functions for end consumers. This combination is unique and we see a high demand in the industry for it. Besides closure designs utilising adaptive flex-band technology, we also introduced closure designs with fully integrated hinges to the market. PETplanet: What were the challenges during development? Krueger: Generally, it is a challenge in itself to add a new functionality (tethering) that has not been requested before, while maintaining the normal requirements of the pretethered world, like good physical performance at the lowest possible amount of material consumed, good applicability and compatibility to existing bottling lines as much as possible. We also developed and implemented closures for new neck finishes (most notably the GME 30.40 neck finish) to further improve the carbon footprint as well as the economic effect of material savings. Our development department and implementation teams did a great job, and I am proud of what we have achieved! PETplanet: How much of your sales are in tethered technology at the moment? Krueger: Currently, about 40% of closures produced in our Swiss production site are tethered. Our Mexican and US sites have not yet switched to production of tethered caps. PETplanet: This closure solution is also being talked about outside Europe. Where do you see future markets for this closure solution? Krueger: We see a lot of general interest almost all over the world. However, I have the feeling that customers in most places outside of Europe – while interested - are rather waiting on how things turn out in Europe in terms of consumer acceptance of tethered caps as a whole and acceptance of individual solutions before making any final decisions to implement tethered caps on a large scale. PETplanet: What efforts are you making now and in the future for sustainable production processes? Krueger: As for probably every manufacturing company, sustainability in production is essential for us. This can for instance be seen by the fact that we have reduced our combined scope 1 + 2 GHG emissions in our European operations by more than 95% compared to 2018. The most important measure to achieve this was to change to 100% renewable energy sources. What also contributed to this drastic carbon footprint improvement are the continuation of the measures and actions we follow since decades, e.g. constantly lightweighting our products, investing in the most energy-efficient production means as well as in infrastructure improvements like modern heating concept, improved insulation and similar initiatives. PETplanet: Thank you very much Mr Krueger. www.corvaglia.com
TEM PLUS LET‘S OPEN A NEW WORLD TOGETHER PACKSYSGLOBAL.COM SWISS ENGINEERED Intuitive and flexible Tethering. • Up to 2‘400 caps per minute • High performance matching most modern cap production lines • Multiple molds feeding one machine • Extented lifetime due to PackSys Global‘s DURASLIT® knife • Modular design gives flexibiility in the process sequence • PackSys Globlal’s DURASLIT® cutting blade guarantees unique blade longevity
CAPS & CLOSURES 20 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net Closures designed to meet the requirements of tomorrow Product integrity, user convenience, customisation and sustainability are the features modern closures must have to meet today’s demands of the beverage and liquid food industry. Ideally, they are backed up with consumer and application expertise, mould making and production capacities as well as a global network providing local support and technical service along the entire ‘closure process’: From idea to high performance of the filling line. CAPS & CLOSURES Bericap, a global manufacturer of plastic and aluminium closures, made timely forward-looking investments in these areas – and its decision has proved to be right. Bericap is reporting revenue of EUR 1.2 billion at the end of its successful 2022 financial year. Strong growth in demand for new developed closures that are tailored to customer needs and sustainable efforts drove up Bericap’s annual production output last year to 95 billion closures for the different industries. Product integrity and consumer convenience An elementary aspect of all Bericap closure solutions is the focus on product integrity and user safety, from protection during transportation or storage to leakproof re-closing and tamper resistance and a strong impact on sustainability. Consumers will only choose ecofriendly closures over conventional caps if they offer handling advantages. That’s why the Bericap product development teams focus on optimising customer convenience with products that are easy to open, can be closed again without leaking and offer a comfortable drinking and drip-free pouring experience. Bericap conducts studies and field tests to obtain consumer opinions about its products. A ClipAside consumer survey delivered convincing results, with the majority of users rating the Bericap tethered caps more positively than conventional closures for their intuitive handling, their 180-degree opening angle and the fact that they are very hygienic. The Bericap sport caps also have a 180-degree opening angle, and can be intuitively opened using one hand, offering genuine ‘convenience to go’ to the user. Customisation Packaging is an integral part of the product, especially in the consumer goods segment, so a unique and flexible packaging design contributes to brand differentiation and provides the basis for marketing activities. Bericap offers numerous individual print, decoration and design solutions for closures and has the necessary competence in the different production processes. These solutions help customers make their products stand out on the retail shelf and in marketing activities. Sustainability Light weighting – weight and material reductions – and enhanced recyclability are central to closure sustainability. Bericap geared its product portfolio to sustainability a long time ago. New developed closures are also regularly rolled out to further optimise the company’s environmental track record. For example, it has entirely dispensed with silicone. Unlike most of the valves found in closures for spreadable products, the BericapValve Recycling advantage: Silicone-free BericapValve Bericap Hexalite 29/13 CA, ClipAside tethered cap for PET 29/25 neck finishes
CAPS & CLOSURES 21 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net is silicone-free because it is impossible, or at least extremely difficult, to separate the silicone from the reusable PET in the recycling process. The Bericap valves that are used in various closures for the ketchup, mayonnaise and spreadables segments have obvious recycling advantages because they are made from a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) that is 100% siliconefree. The new tethered caps also protect the environment because they are attached to and recycled with the bottle, thereby preventing environmental waste caused by discarded caps. European manufacturers and fillers of single-use beverage bottles with a capacity of up to 3 l have to change over to tethered caps by July 2024 when they become mandatory in Europe. The Bericap ClipAside allows the companies to continue manufacturing closures with the current TE band geometry at the same time, and to conveniently switch between standard and tethered cap bottles on the filling lines without the need for further modifications. Companies can change over their production lines in well ahead of deadlines for compliance with the new requirements. Bericap manufactures ClipAside closures for all relevant neck finishes. Reflecting the principle of ‘less is more’, Bericap is introducing weight and material reductions across all product categories and closure designs, from the sport caps that are now available in more variants to the new light weighting cap range for edible oils. The company is also involved in the development of new neck finish standards. The ‘made for recycling’ designs are based on a mono-material approach to eliminate material separation problems in the recycling process. Bericap will exhibit at the Interpack Trade Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 4-10 of May 2023 under the slogan “Welcome to CapTown”. product development caps & closures design high cavitation moulds multi-component moulds closure production systems after sales service competent – professional – inspiring +43 5572 7272-0 | sales@z-moulds.com | www.z-moulds.com z With more than 4,000 employees at 26 production plants serving customers in over 100 countries across the world, Bericap is building on the positive development in 2022 and remains on track for growth in the region of 5 per cent this year. Bericap’s geographic expansion into new growth markets including Southeast Asia, Africa and South America continues, and it is planning to open new production plants in Vietnam and Kenya at the end of 2023. www.bericap.com F.l.t.r.: The latest Bericap sport caps: Biarritz, Mayence and Monet are designed to use fewer materials, improve recyclability due to mono-material and prevent littering (no loose parts). The new designs are available for all relevant neck finishes.
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