EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 26 No. 09/25 www.petpla.net 10 Sustainability is using rPET Ms Ester Masó Donadeu has worked at RETAL Iberia since 2005, initially as Director of Finance and since 2013 as CEO. In her time, production has grown from 125 million preforms per year to 1,250 million preforms. In addition to preforms, handles for the large water containers are also produced in the hall. Caps are manufactured at other RETAL sites. Interview with Retal Iberia // March 26, 2025 We met: Ms Ester Masó, GM and Mr Emmanuel Duffaut, Chief Sustainability Officer It is therefore hardly surprising that the introduction of tethered caps had no significant impact on the production of preforms. The introduction of the plastic tax for virgin material of €0.45/kg in Spain in 2023 had a much greater impact. The reason for this is that every EU member state has had to pay a plastic tax of 80 cents per kilogramme of non-recycled plastic waste since January 1, 2021. Italy plans to follow this approach in mid2026. The untaxed rPET proportion in the preform has risen significantly since then. RETAL Iberia invested in a material mixing plant four years ago. It mixes the correct ratio from the eight large virgin PET silos and three smaller rPET silos depending on the batch. Only then is the material pre-mixed in the production hall in the drying silos above the injection moulding machines. While any desired proportion of rPET can be produced with the mixing plant, Ester Masó Donadeu thinks that in the future there will be standardised mixing ratios and the correct rPET proportion will be set by the raw material suppliers. This means that fewer individual mixtures will be added to the complex mixing plant in the long term. Making the preform lighter and thus saving material is a daily challenge. Ten years ago, the preform for the 1.5 L bottle weighed 33 g, now it is produced at 22 g. The production hall was extended by RETAL Iberia in 2023. There are now four HyPET and nine G-Line systems there, twice as many as before. The latest machine in the hall is a Husky HyPET 5e 300. Certificates and awards In April 2023, the ISO50001 energy certificate was awarded to RETAL Iberia following an external audit. Quality Manager Xavi Mora says, “This international standard is a tool to support us in improving energy consumption by developing and implementing an energy management system. The aim of this certification is to support continual improvement when it comes to energy consumption and efficiency.” In March 2025, RETAL has gained its highest ever EcoVadis score, reaching 65% to achieve Bronze level. This 6-point increase from the previous year’s evaluation means that multinational plastic packaging manufacturer RETAL is closing in on its target to reach 75%. RETAL’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Emmanuel Duffaut, says, “Our progress was largely thanks to our 15-point increase in our most impactful category, ‘Labour & Human Rights’, and in our higher ‘Ethics’ rating. I’m also pleased to report that our 68% rating in ‘Procurement’, 70% in ‘Environment’ and ‘Advanced’ rating in Carbon Management remained constant and strongly contributed. This combines to reward our continuous sustainability commitment and management at the highest level throughout our business.” www.retalgroup.com From left to right: Joan Mascaró, Production Manager, Jordi Campeny, Operator and Ester Masó, GM. View of the extended production hall. There are now four Husky HyPET and nine G-Line lines. Products RETAL Iberia produces: preforms for 0.33 to 8L and handles Virgin PET is mixed with rPET here. The proportion of rPET varies from 20-100%, depending on the customer and order. by Alexander Büchler Sponsors to date Editour
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