No.04 2025 www.petpla.net D 51178; ISSN: 1438-9452 PETplanet is read in 159 countries Suppliers of cap systems & cap moulds MARKETsurvey M A G A Z I N E F O R B O T T L E R S A N D B O T T L E - M A K E R S I N T H E A M E R I C A S , A S I A , E U R O P E A N D A L L A R O U N D T H E P L A N E T 14 . 04 . 25 MOULD MAKING EDITOUR Page 10 Page 25 Page 20
Booth: 7F31 Hall: 7 'VXOR 9NKT`NKT =UXRJ +^NOHOZOUT )UT\KTZOUT )KTZKX The 37th International Exhibition on Plastics and Rubber Industries Booth: AB58 Hall: 101 0[TK (/:+) (GTMQUQ :NGORGTJ The 32nd International Processing and Packaging Exhibition for Asia
No.04 2025 www.petpla.net D 51178; ISSN: 1438-9452 PETplanet is read in 159 countries Suppliers of cap systems & cap moulds MARKETsurvey M A G A Z I N E F O R B O T T L E R S A N D B O T T L E - M A K E R S I N T H E A M E R I C A S , A S I A , E U R O P E A N D A L L A R O U N D T H E P L A N E T 14 . 04 . 25 MOULD MAKING EDITOUR Page 10 Page 25 Page 20
We think about your caps, so you can think of everything else. www.corvaglia.com Visit us at the April 13-15, 2025 Booth C3-37 Hall 3 Riyadh Front, Saudi Arabia
imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Hubweg 15 74939 Zuzenhausen, Germany phone: +49 6221-65108-0 [email protected] EDITORIAL Kay Barton Heike Fischer Gabriele Kosmehl Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Anthony Withers Editorial & WikiPETia. info [email protected] MEDIA CONSULTANTS Martina Hirschmann [email protected] Johann Lange-Brock [email protected] phone: +49 6221-65108-0 LAYOUT AND PREPRESS EXPRIM Werbeagentur Matthias Gaumann www.exprim.de READER SERVICES [email protected] 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. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net The first part of our Circular Economy Tour 2025 has started and took me to Spain. But what awaited me there? Exciting projects, of course, but at the same time every visit brought back memories of previous projects from the last 25 years - a real déjà vu! But first things first. My first stop was at Mr Guillem from Inden Pharma, which now operates in cooperation with Alpla Pharma. About 20 years ago, we already had the idea of publishing a publication called Plastics in Pharmaceuticals alongside PETplanet. However, our research quickly revealed that the authorisation procedures for medicines and their packaging take several years. Once on the market, changes are virtually impossible, so innovations in this area are very slow to gain a foothold. And today? The situation has hardly changed. This means that a specific PET from a specific manufacturer is authorised for almost every type of packaging. Inden Pharma therefore relies on many small batches which are processed in bags - a real logistical feat. My next visit took me to Mrs Masó from Retal Iberia. She gave us a warm welcome and we were delighted to see each other again after ten years. After all, my colleagues Waldemar and Kay had already paid a visit back then. We quickly got talking about the history of Retal. One particular impression: my first major visit abroad with PETplanet 25 years ago also took me to Retal - at that time still in Dnipro, Ukraine. It was moving to hear that the company continues to operate despite the war and has moved its headquarters closer to Kyiv to meet the challenges of the current times. My trip ended with a meeting with César Rodriguez, the founder and CEO of MachinePoint. He founded his company at the same time as I launched PETplanet. Over the years, he has led MachinePoint through all the ups and downs and developed it into a profitable trading centre for used machines with comprehensive service backup, now employing 50 people. I still remember my early days when I was also involved with used machines for PETplanet - but the business was far less dynamic back then. Instead of structured markets, there were often only dusty halls in which discarded machines waited for new owners. During these intensive discussions, the topic of sustainability also took on a different dimension. It is also valuable to pause and look back - on developments that have had a lasting impact on us and on people who have accompanied us along the way. Yours, Alexander Büchler PS: The new Circular Economy 2025 tour reports will start in one of our coming issues! Dear readers,
PETcontents 4 PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net 04/2025 EDITOUR 10 PET packaging and caps from Alexandria - From plastic motor lubricant bottles to beverages and food 13 The first rPET bottle from Qatar: Visit to Polytech 14 From preform to film BOTTLE MAKING 16 The bigger the better – and lighter - Cypet Technologies claims big savings for extra large containers PREFORM PRODUCTION 18 High cavitation, low energy - Huayan Ecosys 250 and Ecosys 280 target large and heavy PET bottle markets MOULD MAKING 20 Manufacturing blow moulds for PET bottles - Four steps, one supplier: design, manufacturing, sampling & testing 22 Why speed alone isn’t enough - Smart prototyping: De-risking bottle design with data-driven insights 24 High production level - Xform featuring 200-cavity preform mould by Sipa 29 The most sustainable label? No label at all - Label-free bottles for improved sustainability 30 Precision cap mould manufacturing 31 Precision moulding for complex shapes - FlexBlow advances mould technology with Extreme Venting solution 32 Client-centric approach - Advanced blow mould solutions 34 100% rPET lightweight bottle base for still products MARKET SURVEY 25 Suppliers of cap systems & cap moulds MATERIALS / RECYCLING 36 Simplified handling, economic efficiency - Filtration efficiency in PET recycling thanks to automated inline cleaning 38 Agglomeration, desiccation, crystallisation - Complex intermediate steps can be avoided with Plastcompactors from Herbold Meckesheim OUTER PLANET 50 Reducing heating bills and plastic waste alike - New environmentally-friendly mortar comes with recycled PET BUYER’S GUIDE 44 Get listed! INSIDE TRACK 3 Editorial 4 Contents 6 News 39 Products 40 PET bottles for beverage + liquid food 43 Patents MOULD MAKING Page 22 Page 29 Page 13 EDITOUR
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PETnews 6 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net Alpla has new leadership in Western Europe and Asia Packaging and recycling specialist Alpla is restructuring its leadership in its two Western Europe (WEEU) and AsiaPacific (APAC) regions. Roland Wallner, Managing Director APAC since 2021, will take over as Managing Director Western Europe (WEEU) on April 1, 2025. Ronald Tichelaar, General Manager China, will succeed Wallner as Managing Director APAC. Wallner brings 27 years of international management experience and has been with Alpla for 14 years. During his time in Asia, driving significant top- and bottom-line growth, Wallner built up and expanded the company’s presence in several Asian countries and oversaw multiple major projects. WEEU, Alpla’s largest region, includes 31 base plants and 17 in-house plants across 10 countries, employing 5,700 people. Wallner will be based at the headquarters in Hard, Austria, and report to the CEO. Ronald Tichelaar takes over APAC region Tichelaar, with 14 years at Alpla, has led operations in North Asia and Spain. As General Manager China, he oversaw six plants and technical centres, achieving strong business growth and operational excellence. The APAC region includes 12 locations in four countries, with 2,650 employees. Alpla recently opened its second plant and headquarters for Thailand in Chachoengsao. www.alpla.com Husky strengthens 25-year commitment to India Husky Technologies, a global leader in injection moulding technology and solutions, is reinforcing its commitment to India with expanded facilities, technology innovations, and service enhancements designed to support the country’s emergence as a global sustainability leader. This commitment was recently commemorated with a two-day customer event that took place March 20-21, hosted by Husky’s regional leaders and senior executives. Husky’s presence in India has significantly grown since selling its first system into the country in 1999. The company opened a flagship sales and service office in 2001, followed in 2009 with the construction of their Chennai manufacturing facility. In May 2023, Husky kicked off the next phase of expansion that culminated with the opening of a new Delhi office in November 2024. The company has now established additional capabilities in India. India’s ambitious sustainability mandates, which require 30% recycled plastic content in packaging by 2026 and 60% by 2029, create both challenges and opportunities for regional producers. Husky’s expanded presence supports customers in navigating these requirements through circular economy solutions. Husky’s strategic focus on India recognises the country’s potential as a global model for sustainable manufacturing, demonstrating how countries can maintain economic growth while embracing circular economy principles. Introduction of new global enterprise-level monitoring solution A highlight of Husky’s customer event included an early preview of the company’s new Advantage+Enterprise solution, a global offering that builds on the success of the existing Advantage+Elite platform to deliver enterprise-wide operational insights. Introduced in 2021 and currently supporting more than 1,100 contracts around the world, many of Husky’s customers have been using this solution for single or multiple system monitoring. By studying these systems, Husky was able to determine that those connected to this innovative experience improved operational effectiveness, performance, and part quality. Even more so, customers who employ this system across an entire factory experience even steeper improvements, says Husky. These observations are what led to the development of the new Advantage+Enterprise program. www.husky.co F.l.t.r.: Roland Wallner and Ronald Tichelaar
7 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 Republic Services, Blue Polymers celebrate opening of Indianapolis plastics recycling complex Republic Services and Blue Polymers celebrated the opening of North America’s first Polymer Center and plastics recycling complex in Indianapolis on March 18. The facility, designed to process over 175 million pounds of recycled plastics annually, will produce materials for food-grade packaging and other uses. Republic Services operates the Polymer Center, while Blue Polymers handles the compounding and pelletising of plastics. The Polymer Center will process recycled plastics collected from homes and businesses in Indiana and nearby states, including PET (water and soda bottles), HDPE (milk jugs or detergent bottles) and PP (to-go cups or margarine tubs). Republic Services and Blue Polymers are developing a network of plastics recycling facilities for nationwide coverage. A Republic Services Polymer Center opened in late 2023 in Las Vegas, and a second Blue Polymers facility is scheduled to open later this year in Buckeye, Arizona. Another Polymer Center-Blue Polymers complex is in development in the Northeastern U.S. The Indianapolis site spans ca. 28,000m2 (300,000 square feet) and will create 125 local jobs. The project received support through a grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Central Indiana Waste Diversion Pilot Project; tax credits from the City of Indianapolis in conjunction with Develop Indy, the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development and Employ Indy; Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) incentive-based tax credits, based on the company’s investment and job creation plans; and IEDC Hoosier Business Investment tax credits, designed to help companies invest in smart manufacturing and new technologies. www.republicservices.com CREATING FUTURE STANDARDS Japan’s leading Aseptic PET Filling System Provider. Our website Our solution high quality reliable technology safe & secure Republic Services CEO Jon Vander Ark, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and other leaders and officials cut a ribbon to officially open the Indianapolis Polymer Center-Blue Polymers plastics recycling complex on March 18, 2025.
8 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net Engel opens new plant in Mexico Engel has opened a new production site in Querétaro, Mexico, to strengthen its presence in the Americas and enhance manufacturing capacity. The goal is to offer customers in North and South America faster delivery times and greater availability of injection moulding machines. The site allows for significant production expansion and future growth, with space for additional capacity. Engel plans to ramp up production of injection moulding machines, including the e-mac and Wintec t-win series, while also modernising the plant to meet high production standards. Mexico is an important industrial and manufacturing hub for Engel. The country is claimed to offer ideal conditions for production companies and skilled labour, making it a prime location for long-term investments. Additionally, Mexico and Latin America represent key and growing markets for injection moulding technology. www.engelglobal.com Arca Continental boosts investments to drive growth in 2025 Arca Continental announced an investment of approximately US$896 million for 2025 to expand production, boost digital tools, introduce new beverage categories, and enhance sustainability efforts. The investments aim to strengthen its operations and community impact. In 2024, the company achieved a strong performance, including record volume in Mexico and historic margins in the U.S. Consolidated volume reached 2,466 million unit cases, with net sales growing by 10.9% to US$11.79 billion. Net income rose by 11.8%, totalling US$973.26 million. Arca Continental also made significant progress in sustainability, becoming the first Mexico-based company in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and being included in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook for the third consecutive year. www.arcacontal.com New Global Sales Director at Erema The Austrian specialist in plastics recycling systems and components, Erema, has appointed a long- t ime employee as Global Sales Director: Christoph Wöss, previously Business Development Manager for the Bottle division, took over the newly created position within the Erema management team on April 1, 2025. Christoph Wöss has been part of the Erema Group for 24 years and possesses in-depth market knowledge. With his extensive experience, he is well-versed in the international markets and the specific requirements of the plastic recycling industry. In his new role, he will manage the company’s global sales activities and drive the company’s strategic development in the global market. In this context, Christoph Wöss will lead the international sales team and work closely with Erema’s global subsidiaries to strengthen the company’s market presence. www.erema.com | www.agrintl.com | +1.724.482.2163 Featuring AutoJob® 6LPSOLȴHG DQG DXWRPDWHG MRE VHWXS LQ VHFRQGV 3DUWQHU ZLWK $JU WR DFKLHYH VLPSOLȴHG GLPHQVLRQDO PHDVXUHPHQW IRU \RXU SODVWLF FRQWDLQHUV DQG SUHIRUPV Prepare for tomorrow... HQKDQFH HɝFLHQF\ WRGD\ F.l.t.r.: Kalojan Iliev, Managing Director at OOO Erema and Christoph Wöss, new Global Sales Director at Erema, at the PRS Europe in Amsterdam, NL
9 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net New leadership chapter at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag North America Sumitomo (SHI) Demag North America has announced leadership changes. Effective April 1, 2025, Liam Burns became President, bringing 36 years of industry experience, including two years as Senior Manager for Sumitomo Demag’s Northeast Regional Sales. Burns will focus on customer value, partnerships, and expanding the company’s market presence. John F. Martich III, previously Executive Vice President, took on the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) on the same date. Martich will oversee internal operations, driving efficiency and innovation in line with the company’s global strategy, working closely with Corporate Controller Beth Belay. www.sumitomo-shi-demag.eu Sidel’s Octeville site earns EcoVadis Gold Sidel’s Octeville site has been awarded the Gold Medal by sustainability assessors, EcoVadis following a comprehensive review of its supply chain strategy at both local and corporate-group level. The company was positioned in the top five per cent of reporting companies in 2024 by EcoVadis. Sidel partnered with EcoVadis in 2017 to assess and improve its environmental, social, and ethical performance. Sidel’s latest achievement follows a comprehensive review involving more than 300 questions covering critical areas such as environmental impact, labour rights, health and safety, ethics, and responsible procurement. www.sidel.com From left to right: John F. Martich III, Liam Burns and Beth Belay Peter McLellan, Director Global HSE at Sidel
EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net 10 From plastic motor lubricant bottles to beverages and food PET packaging and caps from Alexandria by Kay Barton Alexandria Company for Industrial Packaging, or ACIP for short, has its plant around an hour south-west of the port city of Alexandria in the industrial area of Borg El Arab El Gedidah City. It is part of the ABCO Group of companies, which also includes the divisions ABCO United for Plastics and Chemicals (ABCO), active in the production of PP and PE containers, and the Alexandria Detergents and Chemicals Company (ADCO), active in the filling of household cleaners, personal and car care products. With ACIP, founded in 2002, PET processing entered the group as a new business segment and produces preforms and bottles for the beverage, food and non-food industries, as well as closures for these sectors, but with a focus on markets outside of standard caps for water and CSD applications. We interviewed Chairman Samy Awad, whose father founded and developed the company. Interview with Alexandria Company for Industrial Packages September 11, 2024 We met: Mr Samy Awad, Chairman Samy Awad has been on board the family business since 1999 and has a bachelor’s degree in economics and minor in business administration from the American University in Cairo (AUC). In the ‘newer part’ of the company, as he told us, we sat together in the meeting room, which also functions as a showroom for the ABCO product range and talked to each other. This is how the company’s success story began in 1970, when father Mahmoud Awad, who has a Bachelor in Engineering degree, founded ABCO as a pure trading company and as a local representative for European machines and accessories. In 1979, he began producing plastic containers himself for the first time as ABCO Plastics. His first project was a PE bottle for motor lubricants - the first ever in Egypt. The idea for this arose from previous work with the lubricant manufacturer Esso (now ExxonMobil), which at the time, like all its competitors, packaged engine lubricants exclusively in tin cans. “My father had the idea of producing the first lubricant bottle made of PE, a real game changer for the industry,” said Samy Awad, explaining the start of the company. The company was able to expand when it moved to the current industrial estate in 1990. Today, ABCO claims to be the largest blow-moulder for PP and PE in Egypt and was the first company in this sector to be certified according to ISO 9002 (QMS) back in the 1990s and received a UN certificate for the transport of dangerous goods for some of its products. Also in the 1990s, the company began to diversify into new areas and gradually moved into the food and beverage sector. “With the founding of ACIP in 2002, we first set our sights on PET processing, an up-and-coming market sector that we were very interested in,” explained Mr Awad. In 2003, ADCO was added as a division for filling household, personal care and car care products. The 9,000m2 plant is ideally located directly in the building next door, which makes the logistical effort between packaging production and filling obsolete. A number of brands, the company’s own brands and also Private Label OEM brands filled to order, totalling over 400 SKUs, come from here, including packaging, closures and contents. The company supplies more than 40,000 customers nationally and internationally, we learned. In 2013, together with Husky, ACIP designed and built a new 12,000m 2 factory for preform moulding, bottle blowing, IML and cap production, including all-electric machinery - the building where we met for the interview. Mr Awad showed some of his products on the table. 28mm, 38mm, 30/25, 29/25, 28/400, as well as dropless neck preforms for beverage, edible oil, detergent and personal care applications are also in the CEO Samy Awad with some of the ACIP products Various PET bottle formats from the Sidel SBO 6 EDITOUR
EDITOUR 11 PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 portfolio, as well as various bottles, IML packaging and closures. The 29/25 water preform is the best-selling preform here. In terms of closures, the company specialises in special closures, e.g. multi-part, more complicated closure types. “We were the first manufacturers in Egypt for juice and milk packaging in PET and PE and were thus able to offer alternatives to multilayer cardboard packaging for the first time. We also produced the first Sports and milk caps. We are the main suppliers for multinational lubricating customers in Africa and the Middle East such as Shell, Total, Ola Energy, Castrol and BP, while in the PET market we have supplied customers such as PepsiCo, Nestle, Froneri, SC Johnson, Harvest, Mansour and other well-known companies”, he said. ACIP currently produces around 400 million preforms annually, which equates to approximately 85-90% capacity utilisation. 8,500 t of PET material are processed. On the closure side, around 200 million units are produced, which corresponds to 350 t of PE and 500 t of PP. For preform moulding, the company uses HyPET 225 and 300 injection moulding systems from Husky, most of which run with 48- and 72-cavity mould capacities. Bottle blow-moulding is carried out with a Sidel SBO 6. Mr Awad pointed to the SBO during the tour: “Thanks to Sidel’s Preferential Heating Technology, we can offer complex and oval bottle shapes, depending on customers’ requirements.” Smaller stretch blowing and preform systems are also in operation for shorter production runs. In the IML and cap segment, two Husky Hylectric and four Zhafir systems are working along with Ilsemann and other Automation equipment. Two further Zhafir systems for IML and cap productions are to follow soon within the next few months. There are also F.l.t.r.: Samy Awad with ACIP factory management next to one of the Husky HyPET systems
EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net 12 four Arburg all-electric and hydraulic machines in use for closures. The entire material distribution in production is centralised using Piovan equipment. There are currently 250 employees working in 3 shifts at the plant. Around 20% of production is exported to African countries and the Middle East - ideally, the company CEO would like this figure to rise to 40%, as he reveals. The company’s annual growth averages 10%, with above-average growth of 25% in 2024. 10% of turnover is continuously reinvested. The company is in direct competition with the leading preform, bottle, cap and IML suppliers in Egypt. A relatively new line of business was added to ACIP in 2022, which is probably due in no small part to the experience gained in planning, installation and implementation. “The sector is still marginal, but we have a small but growing engineering portfolio for the supply of custom-made machines and equipment to be used as stand alone or in-line on the customers’ filling and capping lines,” said Mr Awad, showing some pictures of ACIP equipment that the company has developed. “The initial target group here is small and medium-sized bottlers and filling companies. However, we have been successful in supplying patentpending systems to large multinationals. In close consultation with customers, we can advise on everything from planning and process design in the respective plant to the set-up and control of the components and offer turnkey solutions. If customised solutions are required, we can also plan and build machines to customer specifications. Already, we are pleased to have been recognised by Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Egyptian government for our Industrial Innovation in this area. “The future lies in sustainability,” said Samy Awad. “This naturally includes environmental aspects, such as material and CO2 reduction, but also more far-reaching, holistic approaches, such as the fundamental corporate responsibility towards employees and society. In addition to our ISO9001:2015, ISO14001:2015 and ISO45001:2018 certifications, we have also obtained FSSC22000 Ver. 5 and Sedex certification. We have also undergone an audit by a reputable inspection agency, which found us to be in full compliance with the audit scope. This audit covered ABCO’s compliance with local laws and regulations, child labour, discrimination, freedom of association and collective bargaining, health and safety and the environment. In a CDP score report that we commissioned in 2023, we received a ‘B’ score, which is the highest score in Egypt and also above the global and African average of the plastics Industry. ACIP also has a Bronze medal from Ecovadis. We will continue to work on this.” He went on to explain: “We never take the customer for granted, we will offer the best service we can, but there’s always room for improvement.” This philosophy is very tangible at the meeting. There should be a constant process of optimisation that affects all areas of the company which can never be completed entirely, according to Mr Awad. One of these areas that ACIP is currently planning for the near future is the further reduction of CO2 emissions by installing solar panels on the company’s roof, which will generate 20% of its own electricity requirements. www.acipegypt.com www.abcogrp.com At the Editourmobil with Samy Awad (left) and Kay Barton Everything from a single source: Mr Awad with a selection of products from his ABCO Group
PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net 13 EDITOUR The first rPET bottle from Qatar: Visit to Polytech by Alexander Büchler Polytech is a classic converter for water preforms and caps. 50% of production goes to the sister company Rayyan Water. This makes Polytech half an in-house producer. We spoke to Plant Manager Nallasivam Singaraj. Interview with Polytech Plastic Industries // September 19, 2024 We met: Nallasivam Singaraj, Plant Manager The company began life in 2017 with the factory equipped with a Husky HyPET 400t system with 96-cavity moulds and a Husky HyCAP225 complete system with Husky 48-cavity closure mould and downstream IMD inspection equipment. In the wake of the embargo imposed by other Gulf states, Polytech doubled its capacity in 2019 by adding a further Husky HyPET system and a Husky HyCAP system. Capacities now stand at 1 million preforms and 1.4 million caps. Polytech also blows 5-gallon PC water containers. The standard sizes for water are 200ml, 330ml, 500ml and 1.5l. The caps for the bottles fit on 29/25 or 30/25 necks. Nallasivam Singaraj is and always has been a technician through and through. When he started at Polytech in Doha in 2017, he was also assigned to the sales division. As a technician, this was a new experience. But he clearly liked it, otherwise he would no longer be running Sales today. He looks after around 10 to 11 customers. Many of them are located within a radius of 5km. However, the company also exports to Kuwait, the UAE and India. Half of its production goes to the water bottler Rayyan. Like Polytech, Rayyan belongs to Al Rabban Holding in Qatar. The second major customer is CocaCola. He makes no secret of the fact that he worked for Coca-Cola for many years. Singaraj is therefore familiar with the internal processes there and can provide his customers with a comprehensive range of preforms and caps for water bottles. Singaraj enters into 3-month contracts with many customers. Therefore, he can take possible fluctuations in material prices into account. However, there are also always short-term contracts. With water preforms in particular, he must ensure that the acetaldehyde (AA) content does not exceed the required value. He usually uses scavengers for short-term contracts. For long-term contracts where the purchase quantities are agreed well in advance, he produces the preforms in advance and stores them for four weeks. So the AA limit also fits. To ensure that fluctuations in temperature and humidity do not affect the preforms over the four weeks, not only the production area but also the warehouses are air-conditioned. In general, the factory makes an exceptionally well-kept impression. Every last corner is clean and tidy, all the boxes are neatly positioned on the pallets and the reusable mesh boxes for preform transport look as good as new. The production area is cleaner than many a kitchen. The factory’s CocaCola past is clear to see. And who would have thought it? Here we found the first 100% rPET water bottle on our round trip! To mark the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Rayyan launched a light blue 500ml bottle (13.5g) with a 30/25 neck finish. It is still available for certain target groups, but generally consumers prefer material made from virgin material. www.polytech.qa EDITOUR Polytech has two lorries to serve the nearby customers. Mr Nallasivam Singaraj, Alexander Büchler and Vivek Chaturvedi, Quality Manager at Polytech (from left to right) took a look at one of them from the inside. The plant has a total of six bays for injection moulding machines, four of which are occupied.
EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net 14 From preform to film by Alexander Büchler Inconspicuous from the outside, the production halls house not only the largest preform and cap manufacturer in Kuwait, but also a major player in the production of films. But first things first. Interview with Genoa Plastics Industries, September, 24, 2024 We met: Plant Manager Logesh Sathyanarayanan and CEO Abdullah Abdulmohsin Al Faris It all started with a trading company that did a lot of work with Italy. As the founders liked the Italian city of Genoa so much, the name was added to the company title: Genoa Plastics Industries. The trading business still exists, but in 2008 the production of preforms was added - initially with two PPS 350 t Sipa systems equipped with 96-cavity horizontal moulds. The company got off to a good start. The customers recommended Genoa Plastics to others and business snowballed, and so three Husky HyPET HPP 4 and 5 with 72 cavities were added. Three Husky HyCAP 225 closure systems and a Netstal Elion Hybrid 2200 closure system were also added, all primarily with 48-cavity Corvaglia moulds. The plants process a total of 1,800 t of PET per month into preforms and 180 t of HDPE per month into closures. Inline inspection systems from IMD are located behind the canopy systems. Unlike the usual setup, they are elongated rather than angled, as the machines are positioned close together. As a result, the length of the IMD visual inspection systems is longer than that of the actual injection moulding machine - an unusual sight. An Intravis Prewatcher III system is available in the factory for preform inspection. According to plant manager Logesh Sathyanarayanan, customers are very satisfied with the comprehensive material and quality control. In the event of problems, he has three technicians in his team who are very familiar with Sidel, Krones and KHS systems and can usually help the customer directly. Its customers include major brands such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. The preforms for lightweight water bottles are the main product, but CSD preforms for multinational manufacturers also leave the factory. When it comes to closures, Genoa Plastics focuses on water closures. Depending on the season, a third of production is exported to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and Jordan. A two-cavity Chumpower blow moulding machine forms special bottles (for water, juices, hand sanitiser, glass cleaner, hand soap detergents) from preforms. The owner, Mr Abdullah Abdulmohsin Al Faris, was always on the lookout for new expansion opportunities. This is how he came up with the idea of film production. An 18m high film Windmöller & Hölscher – Varex Extrusion blown film system was added to the newly constructed 26m high plant in 2021, along with a Windmöller & Hölscher Miraflex CI Press L 8-colour printing system and a Nordmechanica Lamination machine, Bimec Italy & Kody slitting machine, four bag making machines for producing bags of all kinds. Only a small part of the film production goes to its existing customers in the beverage sector. Genoa Plastics produces shrink film and printed labels for them. While the customer base and competitors for preforms and caps are clearly defined, the owner has unlocked significant potential for new customers with the film business. According to him, competition is tougher in this sector, as the market is also much larger. www.gpikuwait.com EDITOUR F.l.t.r.: Plant Manager Logesh Sathyanarayanan, CEO Abdullah Abdulmohsin Al Faris and Alexander Büchler
BOTTLE MAKING 16 PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net Cypet Technologies claims big savings for extra large containers The bigger the better – and lighter by Ruari McCallion Cypet Technologies, which is located near Nicosia, Cyprus, has made a speciality of designing and manufacturing large capacity PET containers. Later in 2025 it will be launching a 1,000 l container in partnership with a company in South Asia, and a similar sized Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC). We spoke to Michalis Sideris, the company’s Business and Technical Development Director. Cypet Technologies was established in 2013 by Michalis Sideris’ father, Constantinos Sideris, who had a chemical engineering background and many years’ experience in the plastics industry; he had been running a trading company in Cyprus. It now employs 25 people at its Nicosia HQ and an additional 15 people at its facility in India. Innovative design was a strength from the start. As a start-up, the company was not in a position to take on the established and global businesses, whose scale of operations meant that it was impossible to compete in the mainstream market on price or, realistically, on technology. But Mr Sideris Senior had a clear vision of where he wanted the business to be: in larger-sized containers. He was also in possession of a patented process to make such containers through single-stage injection stretch blow-moulding, which – he maintained – would save operators time, material and energy. As these are the three factors that are most likely to push up costs, the Sideris family and Cypet Technologies believed they were on to a winner – and so it has proved. Cypet has established itself in its niche with a combination of innovation and demonstrable cost saving technologies. Simpler, cheaper – and larger “Our machinery uses a single clamping unit to open and close the injection mould and to blow them but it was the layout of the two moulds inside the machine that was a novel innovation,” Michalis said. “When we developed that first machine, we thought that the main benefit would be a simpler and cheaper machine. We subsequently found that our machine was capable of making much larger containers than were available at the time. Back then, the maximum container size that could be blown was 30 l, which is a popular beer keg size. The Cypet machines were capable of going up to 120 l blow-moulded containers, which was demonstrated via a live production demo at the 2019 K’ Show.” This capability took Cypet well into areas that were traditionally dominated by HDPE, although its mission was, initially, to drive the market to PET containers as a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional materials. Sustainability “PET is the most sustainable plastic packaging available. It is recyclable indefinitely and another way of making it sustainable is to produce your plastic packaging using the lowest amount of energy possible. These two factors were the main motivation for establishing Cypet,” Michalis explained. Cypet also saw that the ISBM market was ripe for disruption, with two Japanese companies dominating the market. As a start-up, it took some time to convince potential customers that its innovations were going to deliver their promises but it has now, while remaining a niche player, established itself as a serious contender, with customers in 20 countries on all five continents. And it was customers themselves who identified the potential for the Cypet technology. “By the time we reached machine number three, we were already blow-moulding 50 l beer kegs for a specific application in Australia. It was the market that guided us into looking at larger containers,” he explained. F.l.t.r.: Michalis Sideris, Head of Business and Technical Development, and Constantinos Sideris, Director & General Manager at Cypet Technologies Preform for a 1,000 l PET water container
BOTTLE MAKING 17 PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net Innovation and invention lead to big savings Cypet has built its reputation with features including handles moulded into the container, not added after, and designs that use less material and need less energy to produce than conventional HDPE or other materials. Anyone can make larger containers with thicker walls but that means more material and more energy expended on heating the material, as well as blowing and manipulating it. When PET is stretched, it becomes much stronger than stretched HDPE, which means that manufacturers can obtain the same strength and capacities with rather less material. Michalis gave as an example a 5 l jerrycan. The lightest HDPE 5 l can requires 140 g of material. A PET container (handle included) can be made with just 100 g: 35% saving on material and with consequent energy costs. Savings extend right the way up the range. The largest container the company makes now is 120 l. It explored 220 l drums but saw that the market for them was shrinking; they were being replaced with IBCs, the familiar cuboid containers that are packaged within a wire cage. The bigger the better – and lighter “We undertook a lot of calculations and simulations and we found that, in theory, it would be possible to design a bigger version of our machine that could blow mould containers as large as 1,000 l,” Michalis explained. “We were able to demonstrate in theory that an IBC made of PET could be much lighter and use much less material. It could reduce the cost of production by so much that it would remove the need to return an IBC bottle, wash it out and redeploy it. You could just send the package back, remove the used, dirty bottle and put a brand new, clean one, inside and ship it out to the market again.” The discarded IBC would be recycled. The immediate project is for a 1,000 l container for water, for India, which will offer an economic and sustainable alternative to traditional packaging. Cypet plans to launch a demonstrator of the water tank by the end of April and the IBC project is expected to be ready by Summer 2025. Material, energy and labour savings “We estimate that our technology will achieve around 40% material savings on both water tanks and IBCs, compared to the HDPE versions. This means that material per IBC will come down from 12 to 15 kg in HDPE to less than 10 kg in PET. A saving of 5-6 kg for each water tank or IBC is absolutely huge in raw material costs, alone.” The energy and cycle time savings offered by ISBM compared to rotary moulding are similarly impressive. Rotary moulding cycle time is up to five times longer than ISBM and energy costs are between 30- and 80% higher, depending on the product being moulded, as rotary moulds must be heated and kept hot for a long time and then allowed to cool down. Labour costs are also higher because of the extended opening and closing process. The advantages are clear but going from 120 l bottles to 1,000 l containers was still a big step up. From virtual world to real time solutions “We had to engineer everything from first principles. We used all the tools that we had available, from design to simulations, including structural injection moulding and blow moulding, and we strove to do the best possible job in the simulation world first,” Michalis explained. “To make sure we could achieve what we had done in the simulation, we added a lot of extra provisions on our machines and our models to be able to ensure even better control of the process, above what the simulations showed that was needed, so that we could be as foolproof as possible and maximise the chances of success.” The new, extra-large range of containers required a significant investment, which has been achieved with the involvement of a strategic partner in India. The next step will be to introduce the bulk water containers and IBCs commercially and to convince users across the world – for this is a global market – that the promised savings can indeed be achieved. The figures should speak for themselves. Cypet is not only focusing on the big picture, if 1,000 l containers can be called that. Later in 2025 it will be launching its Pro Series, which will take the productivity of ISBM machines to a new level in the 20 ml to 50 l space. 2025 looks like an exciting year for Cypet, all round. www.cypet.eu
Photo: istockphoto PREFORM PRODUCTION 18 PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net Huayan Ecosys250 and Ecosys280 target large and heavy PET bottle markets High cavitation, low energy by Ruari McCallion Chinese company Guangzhou Huayan Precision Machinery Co Ltd (Huayan) is headquartered in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, located to the north-west of Hong Kong. It was certified as a high-tech enterprise by the government of the People’s Republic of China in 2008 and moved to its current principal production facility in 2012. It specialises in the manufacture of PET and PP preform injection systems for applications in the food and beverage, edible oil, pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors. Its range of products include six to 176 cavity preform injection moulds and a number of injection moulding systems, under the EONE, EPioneer, Ecosys and HY-D names. Huayan’s Ecosys250 and Ecosys 280 machines are designed for the production of PET bottles for the Heavy Office and Domestic (HOD) bottle markets, with typical capacities of five gallons per 9 l. Previously a sector dominated by PC (polycarbonate), it is one where PET has made significant inroads in recent years. The 250 and 280 machines, which were originally launched in 2017, are upgrades of previous models. Huayan says that its machines offer users short cycle times, low energy consumption and high cavitation. Key to its competitive performance is a novel design of its flip-over clamping structure, which, the company says, significantly increases maximum allowable mould thickness. Clamping and ejection is also claimed to be greatly improved, compared with previous designs. The Ecosys250 and 280 models integrate a three-position cooling robot, two-stage injection unit, a servo-electric plasticisation system and a servoelectric hydraulic power system, which synchronise the injection and plasticisation systems. The inclusion of a secondary injection unit shortens cycle time and notably increases shot weight, which altogether contribute to efficient, automated production of extra-heavy preforms, the company asserts. Efficient design, lower energy consumption The machines have a compact design and footprint. Its new, flip-over clamping structure, specially designed for big stroke mould opening, significantly extends the clamping and ejection stroke, within compact overall dimensions, and also raises maximum mould thickness. The secondary injection unit both shortens cycle time and, at the same time, improves shot weight, delivering automatic and efficient production of extra-heavy HOD preforms of up to 750 g and a length of up to 423 mm. Upgraded servo-electric drives reduce energy consumption, effectively to zero during no-load periods, and rather better than conventional asynchronous motors and hydraulic drives. The machine is claimed to run more steadily and with lower running noise. The screw head rotation speed is automatically controlled, according to shot weight. Stable temperatures, fast cycle time The integrated, air-cooled removable robot is equipped with its own air blowing station, which is claimed to ensure rapid cooling of the preforms to below 45 degrees. This approach aims for a more stable preform quality and blow moulding, as well as higher dimensional consistency. The robot’s patented servo motor and gearbox are designed to ensure secure preform loading and removal. The system has a cycle time of 36s and can achieve an output of 800 preforms per hour, in eight cavity format. It is managed by a Siemens PC System. The HMI (human-machine interface) features an integrated touch screen and manual buttons and a dedicated remote diagnosis function, which helps customers discover, identify, diagnose and solve problems quickly and thus saves machine down time and maintenance costs. The main markets for Huayan’s Ecosys 250 and Ecosys 280 HOD machines are in South-East Asia, Middle East, Africa and Turkey. A total of 32 machines have been installed, including a new system supplied to Danone’s factory in Indonesia, earlier in 2024. Customised to Danone’s requirements, it produces five gallon returnable water bottle preforms. www.huayanpet.com
PREFORM PRODUCTION PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net 19 PREFORM PRODUCTION 19 " "ĸrĸ ĸ ň (b- -7ࢼ 7;Ѳ -ouoĶ Ɛ ň ƐƎƍƏƔ (boubo (;m;|o Ŏ$(ŏ ň |-Ѳ ň $;Ѳĸ ƱƐƔ ƍƑƐѴ ƔƎƎƒƎƎ ň vbr-Şorr-vĸ1ol ň ĸvbr-ĸb| SIPA’sXFORMGEN4XP ru;=oulňloѲ7bm] |;1_moѲo] 7;Ѳb;uv |_; lowestconversion 1ov| -Ѳom] b|_ unmatched ;m;u] ;L1b;m1 -m7 ease of useĸ | umv b|_ loѲ7v =uol Ə |o Əƍƍ 1-bࢼ;v -v ;ѲѲ -v legacy tooling. $_; b7; HMI b|_ v;Ѳ=ňv;࣌m] ruo1;vv v;|ňr -m7 |uo0Ѳ;v_ooࢼm] ||oub-Ѳv 0ubm]v -m ;@ou|Ѳ;vv v;u ;r;ub;m1;ĸ * ! bv built to last ث |_bv l-1_bm; _-v 0;;m ;m]bm;;u;7 |o 1om; |_; _b]_;v| rѲ-oul uo0v|m;vv -Ѳom] b|_ less than1%of total investment om maintenancecostsĶ l-hbm] bu]bm PETandrPET ru;=oul l-m=-1|ubm] |_; 0;v| ;r;ub;m1; ;;uĸ <200 Wh/kg energy 1omvlrঞom 100% rPET pellets 1-r-0bѴbঞ;v 1 million cold half cycles guaranteed 100% 1olr-ঞ0bѴb| with legacy tooling <1% maintenance cost of total investment : an extraordinary preforming experience
MOULD MAKING PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 04/25 www.petpla.net 20 Four steps, one supplier: design, manufacturing, sampling & testing Manufacturing blow moulds for PET bottles For half a century, Röders GmbH is manufacturing PET blow moulds, delivering high-precision solutions. With its experience the company offers solutions for a wide range of blow moulds, applications and designs. The moulds are produced for all 2-stage PET bottles for various industries all over the world. As the industry continues to evolve, packaging manufacturers face increasing demands for lightweight, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions. Röders has continuously adapted to these challenges, ensuring that their moulds meet market expectations, and exceed them with their innovations and in-house developments. The company develops customised mould solutions, optimising bottle performance and production efficiency. A seamless process Efficiency is critical in today’s fastpaced beverage industry. That’s why Röders offers a complete solution from design, manufacturing, sampling, and testing. This integrated approach is claimed to ensure short reaction and lead times and to eliminate compatibility concerns. Röders’ moulds are engineered for rotary or linear stretch blow moulding machines, eg. from KHS, Krones, Sidel, or Sipa and others. In its ISO 9001-certified bottle testing laboratory, Röders analyses every bottle to meet the high industry standards. Equipped with state-ofthe-art machinery, Röders offers a comprehensive range of tests, including: top load resistance, drop impact, carbonation retention, thermal stability, wall thickness and section weight distribution. Röders has been certified by PepsiCo for many years and more recently also authorised by Coca-Cola. If needed, customised tests are carried out to meet individual requirements. Speed and flexibility In the competitive PET packaging industry, time-to-market is everything. Thanks to Röders’ modern production and in-house high-speed machining technology, moulds can be delivered in short time. According to Röders, the mould change systems combined with specialised coatings for durability, provide added value by reducing downtime and extending mould lifespan. Röders actively supports its customers with on-site process optimisation and machine conversions for a smooth transition to new bottle designs. Whether working with standard PET or rPET, Röders helps to fine-tune blowing parameters for weight reduction (lightweighting to cut material costs), energy efficiency with low-pressure blowing, or stretch ratios for improved material distribution. This work supports customers achieving their sustainability goals and helps brands to reduce their carbon footprint. MOULD MAKING Andreas Cordes (left), Mould Engineer, and Helge Heuer (right), Technical Sales Manager, work closely together to develop a customised mould design that meets all requirements for the final application.
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