No.10 2023 www.petpla.net D 51178; ISSN: 1438-9452 23 . 10 . 23 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 PETplanet is read in 159 countries MARKETsurvey Filling equipment & Inspection systems supplier Page 27 Page 30
The world leader of PET Oil free piston compressors Efficiency in sobriety AF COMPRESSORS → WWW . A F C O M P R E S S O R S . C O M → S A L E S @ A F C O M P R E S S O R S . C O M ENERGY COSTS REDUCED BY 1 5 % UNL IMI TED L I FE T IME ! MAINTENANCE COSTS REDUCED BY 50 % A F C O M P R E S S O R S A L S O P R O V I D E S S U S TA I N A B L E A N D L O N G L I F E 8 & 1 0 B A R O I L F R E E A I R BRAU BEVIALE Nuremberg, Germany 28-30/11/23 Hall 7A / Stand 7A-423
No.10 2023 www.petpla.net D 51178; ISSN: 1438-9452 23 . 10 . 23 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 PETplanet is read in 159 countries MARKETsurvey Filling equipment & Inspection systems supplier Page 27 Page 30
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. 10/23 www.petpla.net Dear readers, Brau Beviale 2023 will take place for the first time under the umbrella of “Yontex GmbH & Co KG”, a subsidiary of Messe Nürnberg and Messe München, into which the entire Drinktec cluster and Brau Beviale have been transferred. We spoke to Petra Westphal, Executive Vice President, Yontex. PETplanet: Hello Petra, Yontex has existed since July 2023 - why the merger of the two trade fairs? Petra Westphal: We want to shape the future of the beverage and liquid food industry together. As a result of the merger, we can now place both brands on the market according to their individual strengths. PETplanet: But when you say by together, does that not mean in the future that there will only be one beverage technology trade fair in Germany, called something like Braudrinktec? Petra Westphal: No, that’s not the approach! Quite the contrary: as I said, we will ensure the individual trade fairs focus on their established strengths. So we are continuing to expand Brau Beviale as a European trade fair for beer, wine, sparkling wine, spirits and their non-alcoholic versions, where medium-sized businesses in particular can feel at home. The focus of Drinktec as the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry covers all sectors, especially for medium-sized beverage manufacturers and large global corporations. PETplanet: Can an exhibitor also show products outside of the trade fair’s main themes? Petra Westphal: Of course. It’s a focusing. To achieve transparency, we have developed a common nomenclature for the exhibitor database. Depending on the trade fair with different levels of detail, but the framework is now directly comparable. PETplanet: Petra, what are your hopes for the upcoming Brau Beviale? Petra Westphal: My hopes are that Brau Beviale 2023, the first trade fair in Germany under the Yontex umbrella, is off to a brilliant and impressive start, especially after the challenging years of 2020/21/22. In addition, I hope that we can spread the new options effectively within our community with the combined know-how of Yontex and further develop them together. PETplanet: Thank you for sharing your views with us. Petra Westphal: A pleasure. Yours Alexander Büchler
PETcontents 4 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net 10/2023 Page 25 MATERIALS / RECYCLING 10 Navigating the future of plastic food packaging - Identifying NIAS in food contact materials PREFORM HANDLING 12 “A new idea every day” - 50th anniversary of the company M.Tanner AG BOTTLE MAKING 14 100% rPET bottle for carbonated soft drinks 16 A longer sparkle - Vilsa mineral water bottling applies Freshsafe PET Plasmax coating technol- ogy to non-refillable bottles 18 Where aesthetics matter - Sipa offers solutions for the evolving landscape of cosmetics, personal care and home care packaging 20 ‘Stretch Blow Molding’, part 16 - Injection stretch blow moulding machines INSPECTION 24 Integrated leakage testing system 25 Smart vision partner - New software packages MARKET SURVEY 27 Filling equipment & inspection systems TRADE SHOW PREVIEW 30 Brau Beviale 2023 preview 36 A smart way to produce PET bottles for up to 2.25 l 38 Cold pressed juices, safely packed 40 Air and CO2 compressor solutions 41 Adhesive for PET bottles TRADE SHOW REVIEW 42 Recoup Plastics Resource Recycling Conference 2023 BUYER’S GUIDE 48 Get listed! INSIDE TRACK 3 Editorial 4 Contents 6 News 44 Onsite 45 PET bottles for beverage + liquid food 47 Patents 54 Outer Planet Page 38 Page 12
yellow.agency T OTA LLY SW I S S. OUR INJEC TION MOULDS FOR PE T AND PAC FEATURE THE FINEST TRADITIONAL SWISS CRAF TSMANSHIP. OT TO-HOFSTE T TER. SWISS A FAMILY OWNED SWISS COMPANY.
PETnews 6 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net Netstal presents new brand positioning Shortly before Fakuma in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Netstal is presenting itself with a new brand identity. The company has defined ‘Leading, Reliable, and Value-creating’ as the core values of its corporate brand, intending to communicate this positioning to the outside world through a contemporary corporate design. The company’s self-proclaimed mission is to sustainably maximise the added value of customers from the strategic application fields of thin-wall packaging, closures, PET preforms and medical technology. With the new message to the target groups ‘Your best choice’, Netstal also hopes to address new target groups: “Today the shortage of skilled employees is an urgent challenge. More than ever, we want to present ourselves as an attractive employer, retain existing employees and attract new talent,” emphasises Renzo Davatz, CEO of Netstal and member of the KraussMaffei Executive Board. New logo, new homepage The heart of the new corporate design is the graphically revised company logo. “In modernising it, we have been careful to respect Netstal’s long tradition. Clearly recognisable remains the familiar diamond shape, which has been opened up on the sides and forms a harmonious frame for the lettering,” says Michael Birchler, Head of Marketing and Communications at Netstal. “In a figurative sense, this also says that we are opening ourselves up to new opportunities and challenges. These include topics such as digitalisation and sustainability or the conscious use of the valuable plastic material. At the same time, we remain true to our core competence, and that is the injection moulding machine,” adds Renzo Davatz. Netstal has also applied its new corporate design to the current machine portfolio. The dominant colours of the covers are dark blue and white. Three-dimensional logos in chrome steel look has been designed to emphasise high quality and independence. www.netstal.com EPBP launches design guidelines for recyclability for ‘food grade’ opaque white PET bottles The inclusion of opaque white PET beverage bottles in the targets set by the European Commission demonstrates the commitment of the industry towards a more sustainable future. EPBP (European PET Bottle Platform) has now developed design guidelines for recyclability for food grade opaque white PET bottles and expects that these guidelines will provide crucial support to the mechanical recycling industry for plastics in Europe. By providing structure and encouraging dedicated PET bottle streams, these guidelines will help to maintain the quality and safety of both the opaque white and the clear PET beverage bottle streams. This supports a circular economy by promoting the recycling of materials for the same application and adding value to each stream. By actively working towards increasing the use of recycled PET, the mechanical recycling industry for plastics is playing a vital role in reducing waste and minimising the environmental impact of plastic. By aligning with the targets set by the European Commission, and structuring the industry for ‘circularity’, the PET value chain players are actively working towards a more sustainable future. www.epbp.org Britvic Ireland announces €6 million investment in Ballygowan facility Britvic Ireland has announced an investment of €6 million in its Ballygowan facility in Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, to grow the site’s production capacity by over 20% in order to meet growing consumer demand for Ballygowan mineral water. It is expected to create 28 new jobs. In addition to the new manufacturing roles, the investment will provide additional bottling capacity for the equivalent of 50 million fully recycled and recyclable 500ml bottles of Ballygowan, enhance production capability, and underpin the sustainability credentials of the site. Ballygowan is claimed to be Ireland’s number one bottled water brand, and consumer demand has grown steadily in recent years with sales of Ballygowan products undergoing strong double digit volume growth compared to pre-Covid levels. Newcastle West is the home and source of Ballygowan mineral water, which has been produced and bottled at source since 1984. Britvic Ireland have been a local employer in Newcastle West since 2007, and the facility currently employs 55 people in addition to the newly announced roles. Ballygowan bottles are made from 100% rPET, following a €2 million investment in the Newcastle West facility in 2021. www.britvic.com Alpek: Corpus Christi Polymers (CCP) pause construction of its integrated PTA-PET plant Alpek, S.A.B. de C.V. announced that Corpus Christi Polymers (CCP) has decided to temporarily pause construction of its integrated PTA-PET plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. Alpek, along with its joint venture partners in CCP, has been committed to the development of this facility. However, due to high inflationary rates, construction and labour costs have surpassed original expectations. Consequently, the partners have decided to pause and further assess options to optimise the project’s costs and timeline. The site will be properly preserved to be able to resume construction in the future. www.alpek.com
7 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net Sliding preform for 100% production feedback IMDvista PECO LUX Process monitoring shot by shot Easy integration into your production line Requires QR DGGLWLRQDO ƝRRU VSDFH Low investment and IDVW SD\EDFN The alliance with Coperion gives Herbold Meckesheim’s growth more impetus Herbold Meckesheim is reporting a good order situation for PET and film washing lines towards the end of the current fiscal year. The company is referring to the end of the US financial year, because since last summer Herbold has been part the US group Hillenbrand Inc. Last October, a separate Recycling Business Unit was set up under the umbrella of Hillenbrand with the machinery building company Coperion to cover the entire process chain of plastics processing. The company says that this gives the Meckesheim-based plant manufacturer an even stronger basis and more impetus for its steady growth. The Recycling Business Unit is claimed to offer comprehensive and innovative overall solutions based on the complementary and aligned technologies of Herbold and Coperion. From mechanical processing size reduction, washing, separating, drying and agglomeration of plastics to bulk material handling, feeding and extrusion, as well as compounding and pelletising, the Business Unit covers the entire process and thus value chain. A global network of engineering sites, project management and service centres ensures fast order fulfillment, whether in the USA or Asia, and, thanks to literally short distances, enables installation and commissioning as well as competent and fast on-site service. State-of-the-art test centres for product development and customer trials round off the Recycling Unit’s range of services. PET washing lines dominate order intake PET washing lines continue to dominate the order intake alongside those for films. There is also strong demand for lines for big bags and hard plastics in general, says Herbold. In addition, the special machinery manufacturer is supplying those customers who are interested in single machine solutions. These are mainly granulators and fine mills as well as plastcompactors. Moreover, Herbold Meckesheim maintains an extensive program for overhauling, retrofitting and selling used units. www.herbold.com Coca-Cola is the first bottler in India to launch 100% rPET CSD bottles Following the successful launch of a 1 l bottle made from 100% rPET for its Kinley drinking water brand, Coca-Cola India is now introducing Coca-Cola in 250ml and 750ml rPET pack sizes. These rPET bottles are being manufactured by Coca-Cola bottling partners – Moon Beverages Ltd., and SLMG Beverages Ltd. The bottles, made from 100% food-grade rPET (excluding caps and labels), feature an on-pack call-to-action message, “Recycle Me Again” displayed on the pack. The PET is recycled using technologies approved by the US FDA and the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) for foodgrade recycled material and repurposed into new PET bottles, reducing the need for virgin plastic for producing PET bottles. The Food Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) has approved the use of recycled PET in food packaging in 2022. Similarly, the Government of India’s, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Bureau of Indian Standards has enabled befitting regulations and standards to facilitate the use of recycled plastics in food and beverage packaging. Coca-Cola aims to make it convenient for consumers to return their empty PET bottles by recycling them at conveniently placed drop-off points or Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs). Earlier this year, Coca-Cola India launched a ‘Return and Recycle’ initiative with Zepto that focuses on gathering PET bottles directly from consumers. This also helps in establishing an organised process of collecting PET bottles with 100% traceability. Specifically for India, Coca-Cola introduced ASSP (Affordable Small Sparkling Pack) for the 250ml PET bottle. ASSP, a proprietary Coca-Cola innovative technology is used to reduce plastic usage in the production of PET bottles for sparkling products by up to 40 per cent. www.coca-cola.com
8 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net LOOKINGTO INCREASE ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS CRACK RESISTANCE (ESCR)? CONTACT USTODAY! info@moldmasters.com www.moldmasters.com ✓ New Sprint APEX gate seal. ✓ Increase environmental stress crack resistance for CSD caps by up to 40%. ✓ Increase your safety factor, improve product performance, and enhance customer satisfaction. ✓ Enables light weighting without sacrificing performance and durability. New Innovation Summit at Petcore 2024 Annual Conference Next year’s annual Petcore Conference will feature an Innovation Summit where delegates from across the PET value chain will present a diverse range of ground-breaking initiatives that have the potential to drive opportunities and growth throughout the sector. This is the first time that such a session will take place and a ‘call for papers’ has already been issued, inviting interested parties to submit their latest projects for consideration. The conference, being held in Brussels from February 7-8, 2024, will take place against the background of the finalisation of the EU’s landmark Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). Day One wi l l consider the impact that the regulation will have on businesses operating both upstream and downstream, with industry experts and representatives from the EU institutions coming together to debate and explore market developments shaping the sector. Day Two will see the various Petcore Working Groups report on their activities and share challenges, successes, and next steps with members. As well as the established groups focusing on issues ranging from thermoforms to depolymerisation, Petcore will present the first findings of its analysis into options for enlarging the scope of the association to include textile recycling focused on polyester fibres. The day will include an update on the ‘Save Waste, Recycle the One’ communication campaign which targets Brussels policymakers together with consumers in three large markets – France, Germany and UK. Now in its third year, the campaign has now also launched in Italy, with pleasing social media impact and engagement to date. Delegates will also be updated on Unep’s attempt to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including the marine environment. Now that Petcore has received Unep accreditation and is able to attend key meetings, representatives will present key findings related to the association’s participation in the 3rd session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee held in Nairobi in November 2023. www.petcore-europe.org Indorama Ventures achieves 100 billion PET bottles recycling milestone Indorama Ventures Public Company Ltd announced that it has recycled 100 billion post-consumer PET bottles since February 2011. In the last ten years, the company has spent more than US $1 billion towards waste collection of used PET bottles and has committed a further $1.5 billion to expand its recycling business. To support increased recycling rates globally, Indorama Ventures has expanded its recycling facilities, infrastructure, and public education programs. The company now has 20 recycling sites in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Recent developments include doubling the capacity of a recycling site in Brazil; and the opening of PET Value, the largest bottle-to-bottle recycling facility in the Philippines, in partnership with Coca-Cola. www.indoramaventures.com
9 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net
MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net 10 Identifying Non-Intentionally Added Substances (NIAS) in food contact materials Navigating the future of plastic food packaging Article by Marco Schaefer, Senior Marketing Manager Food & Beverage Packaging EMEA, Avient Corporation Plastic packaging is an integral part of our lives, providing convenience and protection for a wide range of products, including food and beverage. While some environmental concerns have prompted calls to reduce or reuse plastic, its presence in the market remains strong. In fact, reports suggest that plastic’s share in food packaging is expected to rise to 72% by 2024, signalling that plastic packaging is here to stay. Amidst this landscape, the need for sustainable and safe packaging is more vital than ever. Consumers are increasingly conscious of the plastic packaging materials used for their food products. As a result, manufacturers are seeing a growing demand from consumers for packaging that not only promises to protect the food’s integrity but is also environmentally conscious and devoid of potential health risks. Innovative companies are addressing these demands head-on; however, this objective comes with challenges and opportunities. One of the challenges lies in understanding the chemical composition of packaging materials, particularly those used for food. While databases worldwide contain information on thousands of food contact chemicals, there remain gaps in the knowledge about some substances and their potential migration into food. In response, Avient Corporation, a provider of specialised and sustainable material solutions and services, is taking proactive steps to address this challenge, beginning with identifying non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) in food contact materials. Unearthing the hidden substances Occasionally, food packaging may contain NIAS - chemicals present in food contact materials (FCM) or food contact articles (FCA) but not intentionally added for any technical requirement during production. These NIAS could stem from interactions between materials in the packaging, food content, substances in food contact materials (such as additives), the degradation of materials, or impurities in the raw materials. These hidden substances may go undetected by standard migration testing used for specific food contact compliance. Understanding potential reaction mechanisms and then being able to perform NIAS analytical testing is a critical process for plastic packaging producers since they are responsible for the safety of the articles they produce. Diligent scrutiny of packaging safety involves sophisticated analytics during which the nature of specific chemical substances to be detected may be unknown, and the quantities that can potentially migrate into the product are often measured in parts per billion (ppb). Plastic producers, packaging manufacturers, and brand owners must adhere to stringent specifications to ensure consumer safety and product quality are not compromised. A vision for safer packaging As the European Union (EU) mandates an increase in rPET in plastic packaging to 25% by 2025, plastic processors and manufacturers face the challenge of complying with these new regulations while maintaining existing safety requirements. Currently, rPET can be sourced from many different suppliers in the market, and, depending on the sorting and reprocessing carried out during the recycling process, its quality can vary tremendously. Additionally, as the industry moves towards an ideal recycling design that involves material circulating an indefinite number of times, it is challenging to provide rPET material that is safe for use in food packaging. This requires a recycled material that is not solely virgin PET-based resin but also includes a mix of increasing amounts of polymer and additives contained therein, each having undergone multiple recycling and melt histories. Providing a quality rPET grade that meets health and safety requirements and passes a robust NIAS screening process will become increasingly important. Through this process, important information can be gained about the composition of a material, its impurities, and any resulting toxicological concerns, which can affect consumer safety and for which packaging manufacturers are responsible. Once a final article is manufactured, its composition will include both rPET and any functional additives used in the manufacturing process. One of the crucial aspects of NIAS screening will be the ability to quickly discern between any NIAS content generated by the rPET or generated by additives used in the manufacturing phase. Screening input material (such as rPET) before use to identify potential NIAS should become a routine safety check in the future. To address these challenges, Avient has expanded its analytical capabilities to identify and assess nonintentionally added substances (NIAS) that might be created while processing an additive with PET during the packaging manufacturing and any subsequent recycling process. Evaluation starts with manufacturing bottles containing virgin PET resin and the additive at the recommended
MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net 11 usage rate. Bottle samples are taken for further analysis, and the remaining bottles are ground and re-extruded into rPET pellets. The loop continues by blowing new bottles manufactured from the produced rPET pellets. A second sample is taken after the fifth production cycle of PET bottles. Both samples undergo GC-MS and LC-MS analysis to identify any substances present and compare them with those of the virgin resin. This procedure identifies and quantifies any NIAS created using the additive and highlights any potential accumulation of substances in the recycled material during multiple reprocessing cycles. These capabilities also allow any critical molecules to be identified and, when possible, eliminated at the early stages of the product development process for new additives. This capability has been used in the development of Avient’s new technologies, all formulated with circularity in mind and ensuring that NIAS controls are in place from the onset of these materials moving into the market. An example of this NIAS characterisation is in the bottled water market, where older technologies, still used today to control acetaldehyde reduction, have highlighted the need for a new technical solution. This, in turn, has led to the development of Avient’s next generation of acetaldehyde scavengers, Colormatrix AAnchor. Production of comprehensive characterisation data such as this also enables targeted screening of key NIAS where the customer may require product monitoring. Lastly, providing preliminary NIAS data to plastic processors and brand owners helps them narrow the analyses needed to identify the cause of any NIAS profiles of concern in their finished products, thereby maintaining the highest safety standards along the value chain. The path forward The demand for recycled PET in food contact applications is growing steadily. While the Single Use Plastics (SUP) Directive is calling for the incorporation of 25% recycled content in all PET beverage bottles by 2025, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) is aiming for a further increase to 30% and the expansion to all food contact packaging made of PET by 2030. As rPET use increases, NIAS levels are also very likely to increase. Sustainable additives must add no further negatives or reduce the undesirable NIAS risk. Therefore, additive manufacturers will need to adapt their processes as well. The development of new products should also include a screening for NIAS. This will ensure that critical substances are eliminated before a product is launched to avoid any accumulation of unwanted substances in the rPET stream over time. Today’s recycling protocols need to cover this aspect fully. Avient has invested in the necessary analytical equipment and built the required capabilities to screen and assess NIAS that might be created while using additives and further recycling loops. These analytical capabilities can also be used to conduct a targeted NIAS analysis to identify specific substances. This is required when customers request targeted monitoring of the additives they buy regularly from Avient. The company’s ongoing effort to identify and mitigate potential risks in food contact materials demonstrates its commitment to consumer well-being. The journey toward safer and more sustainable plastic packaging is a collective effort. As technology advances and consumer awareness grows, collaborations between industry leaders, regulators, and consumers will shape the path toward packaging that safeguards both products and the planet. www.avient.com
PREFORM HANDLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net 12 50th anniversary of the company M.Tanner AG “A new idea every day” by Heike Fischer 25 km north-east of Zurich, Switzerland, lies the city of Winterthur, where the headquarters of M.Tanner AG is located. The family business, now in its second generation, invited its employees, friends, suppliers and customers to the three-day anniversary celebration. The company produces preform handling systems and currently has around 4,000 systems in operation worldwide. In addition to feeding preforms into the blow moulding machine, other products and functions have been added over time. In bright sunshine and in Swiss cosiness, employees led visitors through a parkour to report on the company’s history and at the same time to draw attention to the technological milestones. The parkour ended in the present time and, appropriately, in the heart of the factory hall. Surrounded by silos and conveyor belts, Marco Tanner, CEO, welcomed the guests and invited his father, the founder Marcel Tanner, onto a stage provided. “It seems like yesterday that my wife Rita and I founded the company in 1973,” Marcel Tanner began his talk. And even though this sentence has been said many times before, everyone in the room immediately believed this charismatic, elderly gentleman. He told personal anecdotes with wit about the challenges of the first years, when his wife Rita, also a machine designer, and he kept their heads above water with contract work for the food industry and in transformer technology. Marco Tanner, CEO, said that his father was very well known in the industry early on and was often asked for help. When there was a seemingly unsolvable problem, there was this saying: ‘Ask Mr Tanner, he will be able to help you!’ For him, his father is a role model with his modesty, in the way he combined family and work. The phrase: ‘A new idea every day,’ also comes from the father. “It is not always easy to deal with a new idea every day, but this spirit still drives me today,” stated Marco Tanner. When the development of blow moulding machines by Corpoplast began in the mid-1980s, Tanner’s share of the PET business grew rapidly. There was the challenge of accompanying the pace of development. Due to the complexity and performance requirements of the blow moulding machines and preform design, the feeding of the preforms became more and more important. “We have also pointed out to the machine builders to take a closer look. How do you want to load the preforms, how do you want to discharge them, it’s not just tipping. Because there is one true hit. The efficiency of an entire line starts with us!” Marco Tanner took over the management of the company in 2012. “The special situation we find ourselves in is that in the meantime our customers are also our competitors, such as KHS, Krones or Sidel. Therefore, I decided to focus also on end-customers to expand our portfolio in order to be able to react flexibly to the market.” From loading, sorting and feeding the preforms to elaborate quality optimisation, M.Tanner today covers the entire preform handling process upstream of the blow-moulding machine or inspection system. Only three years after takeover in January 2015, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) surprised the financial world by lifting the minimum euro exchange rate of 1.20 francs. The value of the Swiss franc rose immediately. The company had to accept losses of 20%. Marco Tanner decided to focus on engineering, service and preform handling. Manufacturing and assembly were limited to the essentials, only where Tanner’s expertise was needed. He therefore had to restructure. “Even though it was a very unpleasant time, the focus also gave us the opportunity to launch new products, to obtain deeper knowledge of different markets,” explained Marco Tanner. “Even today, it’s not an easy time, it’s about overcoming crises together with our clients. We want to lead our clients not to see us as competition, but to show them synergies, to expand their portfolio, show them that our systems are complementary. We are succeeding well in Marcel Tanner, founder of M.Tanner AG (left) with his son Marco Tanner (right), CEO since 2012.
PREFORM HANDLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net 13 this. We have very communicative and good partnerships with our OEM customers.” Marco Tanner is convinced that in a market like this, which is dominated by a few big players like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestlé etc. one needs strong partnerships. “Technically, I could benefit enormously from my father, but I bring commercial and conceptual thinking with me. Strategic developments, which company in the world could work with us, such considerations are more and more important.” A world first in preform handling Marco Tanner sees future development opportunities particularly in the segments of high-speed water, as well as in aseptic applications and high-quality special applications. Just one day before the event, the FAT (factory acceptance test) for a new floor-level preform line for a 1.5 l PET preform was done with Coca-Cola Euro Pacific Partners in Germany. The output of this line is 30,000 pph. The preforms are fed completely close to the bottom in double soft handling. The maximum load capacity is 1,000 kg and it has a short in-feed of two meters. A beautiful birthday present! At the end of the event, a special highlight was the presentation of a prototype of the preform line CS45. The preform weight is 7.2 g, for a 200 ml bottle size. The output is 70,000 pph. The orientation is done by a chain conveyor. However, this prototype is particularly impressive due to its compact layout and its very small footprint as well as the high speed with extremely short infeed. “This line will be suitable for high throughput in a small format - e.g. for the high-speed water market”, Marco Tanner concludes. The day ended with interesting and cheerful conversations over an excellent meal in a restaurant situated above the vineyards of Winterthur. Here’s to another 50 years of M.Tanner AG! www.mtannerag.ch Visit us at Brau Beviale in Nuremberg on 28th-30th November 2023 Look at the innovative products and services we are currently working on. STAND Hall 7A / 7A-322 Containerized Solutions for PET, BIOGAS and CO2 compressors.
BOTTLE MAKING 14 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net 100% rPET bottle for carbonated soft drinks To help carbonated soft drink (CSD) packaging producers embrace material circularity, Sidel has launched Starlite R – a 100% rPET bottle. Sidel’s signature Starlite family is evolving to address the challenges associated with working with recycled content. Sidel has launched a 100% rPET bottle for carbonated soft drink (CSD) packaging. Starlite R has been designed to allow CSD producers to switch to rPET bottle production with ease and efficiency, while reducing the impact on product quality or packaging integrity. Sidel’s more than 45 years of experience in the blowing and PET packaging sector, and its understanding of rPET resin characteristics and its impact went into the bottle’s development. Mr Laurent Naveau, Packaging Innovator Leader at Sidel, comments on the challenge rPET resin can present the packaging industry: “The characteristics of rPET are impacted by several factors. Firstly, by seasonality. Consumption habits fluctuate over the course of the year impacting the product category mix. And secondly, by different PET collection models which means that post-consumer PET material bales will vary from region-to-region and even country-to-country. The recycling process and equipment used will also influence PET resin. All these factors can pose new challenges for manufacturers looking to produce bottles with rPET content.” In addition to common CSD bottle manufacturing challenges such as stress cracking, roll out and bursting during blowing, a higher temperature is also required to process rPET. Consequently, packaging manufacturers can experience reduced control over rPET material stretching and distribution of the substance in the bottlemaking process. Traditionally, greater variability in rPET resin leads to a narrower process window and lower bottle quality. Sidel’s Starlite R base uses new technologies to ensure efficient rPET bottle production by restoring a much wider process window. Accoring to Sidel, the Starlite R design is easy to blow as it can be done within a wider range of parameter settings on the blower achieving a higher quality bottle. High performance rPET bottle base To achieve a high performing rPET bottle base, Starlite features an optimised mould base profile and uses a new stretch rod end design. Sidel says that the new mould base profile allows for good material distribution through advanced stretching and a high base clearance for optimum stability. The advanced stretch rod end design has improved the preform endcap material stretching and ensures accurate injection gate centering on the bottle. A sophisticated combination of grooves and venting holes allows for high-precision base feet formation, according to the company. The new bottle solution utilises dual external and internal bottle base cooling to ensure a perfect shape. Externally, the process uses a mould base cooling circuit that focuses on the warmer bottle base zones and internally a hollow-stretch rod requiring no additional air supply is used. According to Laurent Naveau, Sidel’s new design bottle base achieves greater protection against deformation, increased resistance to bursting and optimum stability, while guaranteeing product quality. Seamless transition The new bottle can be installed on existing production lines and adapted to fit current bottle designs. The solution is compatible with Sidel’s blow moulders, Evoblow, Universal and Series 2 and is claimed to be suitable for high-speed productions. Carbon footprint reduction Lifecycle analysis shows that PET has the best carbon footprint of all the packaging materials currently available and is the only food-grade, bottle-to-bottle plastic resin. Achieving full circularity at scale will make PET an even more sustainable choice since rPET reduces environmental impact up to four times more than virgin material. www.sidel.com
BOTTLE MAKING 15 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net
BOTTLE MAKING 16 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net Vilsa mineral water bottling applies Freshsafe PET Plasmax coating technology to non-refi llable bottles A longer sparkle To date, the KHS coating of wafer-thin, chemically pure glass on the inside wall of PET bottles was primarily applied to improve the quality and shelf life of sensitive soft drinks and juice. VilsaBrunnen Otto Rodekohr GmbH is now the first mineral water bottling plant to embrace Freshsafe PET Plasmax coating technology for its non-returnable containers. With this, the family business is investing in the long-lasting freshness protection of its premium beverages. The mineral water Vilsa extracts from deep underground in Bruchhausen-Vilsen in Germany is over a thousand years old and naturally pure. Thick layers of clay protect the deep spring water from environmental impact and pollution. Through sustainable water ‘harvesting’, the mineral water bottling plant ensures that this precious resource is used in moderation and with great care. For Henning Rodekohr, CEO of the Vilsa Group and a representative of the fourth generation of the family firm, the longterm protection of his spring is a fundamental concern. Besides premium mineral water containing various levels of carbon dioxide, the product portfolio also includes fruit spritzers, soda pop and near-water beverages. All varieties of Vilsa mineral water have been organically certified since 2021 and are thus subject to strict threshold values and high sustainability standards commonly applied on the German mineral water market. The bottler has also been provably climate-neutral since 2021. By actively promoting various sustainability measures in agriculture, in cooperation with local farmers Vilsa intends to help to maintain a high quality of the soil and groundwater in the vicinity of its spring. This striving to protect the local environment ultimately triggered the bottler’s decision to switch over to KHS Plasmax coating technology for all non-returnable containers used by the mineral water bottler. Product protection Back in 2019 the mineral water bottling plant switched the material of all of its non-returnable bottles over to rPET. Freshsafe PET is claimed to combine the low weight and robustness of the plastic container with the much better barrier properties of the glass bottle. The tried-andtested system are claimed to protect the bottle against oxygen pickup and carbon dioxide loss, which both extends the shelf life and increases flavour stability. KHS says that Freshsafe PET also provides a number of key positives when it comes to establishing closed recycling loops: Unlike PET bottles that contain additives to improve the barrier effect and shelf life, the Freshsafe equipment permits full bottle-to-bottle reuse as the interior coating is completely washed off during the recycling process. Both the EPBP (European PET Bottle Platform) and North America’s APR (Association of Plastic Recyclers) have confirmed that The designs of the 0.25-, 0.5-, 0.75 and 1-litre bottles were already suitable for coating; only the largest and thus most challenging container holding 1.5 litres had to undergo minor changes to ensure its vacuum stability during the process. This makes it the very first 1.5-litre Freshsafe PET bottle on the market.
BOTTLE MAKING 17 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net Freshsafe PET is fully recyclable. The container’s suitability for use with foods has also been officially established by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), among other institutions. As the interior glass coating is less than 0.1μm thick and chemically bonded to the inside wall, it is flexible. It cannot be accidentally removed or flake off when force is applied to the bottle, with the coating only separating off during the recycling process. As the coating is also completely transparent, the PET bottles retain their crystal-clear appearance. Characteristic for Vilsa mineral water are its pH, natural ingredients and gentle mineral content. This makes it a sensorily demanding product, however, that reacts sensitively to off-flavours or sunlight. Thanks to the wafer-thin barrier of chemically pure glass in the containers, the mineral water’s natural taste is now protected against oxygen pickup and loss of flavour and CO2 for a considerably longer period of time. The PET material also loses none of its proven benefits, meaning that consumers profit from top product quality. Intensive development process The first coated bottles are now being distributed to retailers. The market launch was preceded by an intensive development process. Although a number of well-known bottlers of challenging sensitive products such as juice or carbonated soft drinks have relied on Plasmax barrier technology for years, its use for natural organic mineral water was new to the specialists from Dortmund. At a series of workshops on site the experts from KHS steadily worked to meet requirements in the runup to the launch of Freshsafe PET for all container sizes from 0.5 to 1.5 litres. “We ran extensive simulations to effect an optimum separation behaviour of the reaction gas in the coating process and thus achieve perfect distribution of the wafer-thin glass coating in the bottle,” explains Stefan Knappmann, head of Sales for Germany and Switzerland at KHS. “Our Bottles and Shapes specialists defined the exact recipe for each container size, product and carbon dioxide level.” To start with, a latest-generation InnoPET Blomax stretch blow moulder was installed that was combined with the barrier unit to form an InnoPET Freshsafe block during the later development process. Following preform infeed, stretch blow moulding, cooling and transfer, the PET bottles are coated according to the Plasma Impulse Chemical Vapor Deposition (PICVD) method, a process first used in the pharmaceutical industry. Here, the containers are turned upside down and passed on to the coating chamber where a reaction gas mixture is introduced into the bottle in a fine vacuum and this subsequently transformed into a plasma state by microwaves. In this state silicon oxide – the chemically pure glass commonly found in most households – is deposited on the inside of the container. At Vilsa, bottles are stretch blow moulded and coated at a maximum rate of 24,500 containers per hour. The most popular non-returnable format is the 0.75 l bottle. www.khs.com Henning Rodekohr, CEO of the Vilsa Group (2nd from right), Stefan Knappmann, head of Sales for Germany and Switzerland at KHS (3rd from left), Joachim Weippert, Vilsa’s head of Production and Technology (2nd from left), and engineers from both companies At Vilsa, the latest-generation InnoPET Blomax stretch blow moulder was first installed and than combined with the barrier unit to form an InnoPET Freshsafe block during the later development process. Vilsa Brunnen Otto Rodekohr GmbH is the first mineral water bottling plant to implement the Plasmax barrier technology from KHS. Back in 2019 the mineral water bottling plant switched the material of all of its non-returnable bottles over to rPET.
BOTTLE MAKING 18 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net Sipa off ers solutions for the evolving landscape of cosmetics, personal care and home care packaging Where aesthetics matter In the dynamic world of cosmetics and personal care, packaging plays a pivotal role in attracting consumers and ensuring product integrity. There is a growing trend among producers to transition to PET from other plastic resins, driven by PET’s flexibility and easy recyclability. Sipa offers solutions such as ISBM (Injection Stretch Blow Moulding) technology for this target group. One of their featured offerings is the ECS SP system, available in 80 and 25-ton models. The ECS SP system has been tailored for producing a variety of containers for food, beverage, cosmetic, and personal care markets. It is claimed to ensure precise moulding and to result in containers with consistent dimensions, high clarity, and a flawless finish. This is crucial in the cosmetics industry, where aesthetics matter. As cosmetic packaging comes in various shapes and sizes, Sipa designed the system to be versatile. It can be tailored to produce bottles and jars with diverse designs, including a recent addition of a small jar for cosmetics. With cavitations ranging from 1 to 16, the ECS SP is claimed to optimise production efficiency. This means meeting high demand for output while maintaining the required quality. In addition, the system can produce containers in a range of colours, offering versatility for packaging aligned with a brand’s identity through fast and easy colour change. Cosmetic jars production To exemplify the capabilities of the ECS SP system, Sipa recently designed and produced a small cosmetic jar using their industrial machine, the SP80. This small jar, with a neck finish of 89mm and a weight of 29 g, exemplifies the precision and flexibility of the technology, according to the company. The system, with its 4-cavity design, allowed for efficient production of these jars with consistent quality even at low cycle time. The range of masterbatch colour options, enabled Sipa to create these jars in amber, white, and transparent variants, catering to diverse customer preferences. The ECS SP integrates the ability to produce containers with both flat and embossed bottoms without the use of the so called “bottom mould delay”, an option required on competitors’ machines, as Sipa states. Sipa says that its commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction becomes evident in their recent design and production of the small cosmetic jars using the SP80 and ECS SP 25 machine, which required adaptation to changing market demands. As the cosmetic and personal care markets continue to evolve, the Italian company aims to offering flexible systems that can quickly adapt to changes in bottle colour and shape, ensuring that a brand remains competitive and appealing to consumers. www.sipasolutions.com BEYOND THE HORIZON PROCESS SOLUTIONS FOR POLYMER RECYCLING AND SOLID STATE POLYMER UPGRADING Polymetrix, a Sanlian Buhler Company, provides process technology including EPCM services for the polymer recycling and manufacturing industry. Leading supplier of rPET systems and integrated rPET plants for single line capacities up to 70’000 tons per year. www.polymetrix.com www.slhpcn.com
BOTTLE MAKING 19 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net ClipAside, drink, love! On an exponential grow path: Tethered ClipAside passes 4 billion. Contact us and arrange your line trials now! www.bericap.com PET 38 PET 29/25 PCO 1881 PET 33 PET 26 PET 26 GME 30.40 A consumer real-life “study” conducted in France found a high level of acceptance among consumers for our innovative new closure. After just one or two experiences, even the youngest and oldest users could handle the smart closure without difficulty – often with one hand. What’s more, many praised the eco-friendly nature of the cap, which remains on the bottle neck and avoids creating additional plastic waste. Best of all for you, this premium product can be integrated into most lines and any popular bottle neck format without major modification of your production equipment. Visit us at BrauBeviale Hall 4, Booth 4-219
PREFORM PRODUCTION PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 10/23 www.petpla.net 20 BOTTLE MAK NG ‘Stretch Blow Molding’, part 16 Injection stretch blow moulding machines by Ottmar Brandau Ottmar Brandau has newly revised his book ‘Stretch Blow Molding’, first published by hbmedia / PETplanet Publisher, and now re-issued in a third edition under the Elsevier Imprint. PETplanet Insider is publishing extracts from successive chapters in a serie of articles. 8.3 Injection Controls All machines on the market use reciprocating screws. That is, the screw turns and pushes material to the front of it while retracting backward in the barrel. This is called recovery. During injection the screw moves forward pushing material into the hot runner while a check valve located at the front of the screw prevents material from moving back. The parameters that can be adjusted on the machine are discussed as follows: injection pressure injection speed transition point or switchover point hold pressure hold time cooling time cushion length Injection pressure and speed Processors can dial in injection pressure either from the screen or manually on a pressure relief valve. A maximum of 100bar (1,500psi) is recommended for PET to avoid shearing the material too much. This is hydraulic, not material pressure and the difference should be explained. The hydraulic injection piston has a 5–7 times bigger area than the screw area leading to pressure intensification. For example, a 200mm injection piston has an effective area of 31.4cm2. The 80mm screw is connected to have an area of 5.024cm2. Using 100bar in the piston results in a force of 3,140kg acting now on the smaller screw area. This leads to the screw experiencing a pressure of 3,140bar/5.024cm2 or 625bar. This is the pressure the material is subjected to and 700bar (10,000psi) is the recommended maximum for PET. It is possible to increase this pressure slightly during start-up to get the process going but many machines run well below the maximum. A notable exception is very thin preforms (<2.3mm), as these require fast injection and with it high pressure to prevent freezing off in the cold tool. Pressure is also not actually regulated by the pressure setting. Instead, this setting is just limiting the pressure to the dialled-in value, draining oil to tank when the actual pressure reaches the selected threshold. What actually creates the pressure is the speed of injection. The faster the speed the higher is the resulting pressure. Speed should be chosen so that the maximum pressure is not reached. Most machines show the actual pressure on the screen while on some it can be read on a dial gauge at the extruder. Figure 8.5 Recommended injection fill time versus preform weight. This graph should only be taken as a general guideline. Other process considerations may force processors to change the time significantly. Injection time is the time between start of injection and when the screw reaches the transition or switchover point. The actual injection time is not a time that can be dialled in. Instead, it is the result of the speed setting and how long it takes to move the material from start of injection to the transition point. This in turn depends on the chosen speed setting and melt viscosity. As discussed earlier, melt viscosity is a function of the material intrinsic viscosity (IV) and melt temperature. Fig. 8.5 gives a guideline what injection time should be for PET.
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