Oxygen Scavenging PET Bottles and Jars

With advent of an improved oxygen-scavenging barrier that is undergoing testing right now, PET will now be able to take and even larger sector of ridged packaging from bottles and jars.

PET is by far one of the fastest growing segments of the beverage bottling industry, but has also made huge inroads in the cosmetic and personal care and food industry. Much of its rapid acceptable into the market is due to the fact that PET bottles and jars are not only shatterproof and recyclable now (see PET recycling increases for 2004 on Packaging Blog), they are as cosmetically appealing as glass - without the weight.

One of the key negative attributes of PET Bottles and other PET packaging containers is that fact that PET does a poor job in keeping oxygen from permeating the container and reacting with whatever is inside. Oxygen reacting with the fill of a container can affect the flavor of foods and drinks, the color and fragrance of a fill and it can dramatically affect the shelf life of some products as well.

Constar International has worked hard to beat this problem and is now on its third solution DiamondClear which when blended with monolayer PET, binds oxygen and stops the negative effects of oxygen on the fill.

The 2 prior methods Constar International had to correct this problem had their own issues: Oxbar is a multi-layer oxygen scavenger but required beverage makers to invest in multilayer injection equipment, and MonOxbar, which is a monolayer barrier material which cost less than Oxbar but was not accepted well due to the pearlescence and haze, which dramatically reduced its attraction on the shelf.

Expect to see far more products packed in PE packaging such as teas, sauces, creams and more due to this exceptional new advance in PET plastics.

PET recycling increases for 2004

The recycling rate for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic used in packaging for rigid containers such as bottles and jars has increased to 1.003 billion pounds in 2004.

According to 2004 PET Recycling Rate Study published by National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) 21.6% of post-consumer PET containers were recycled which is the highest percentage since 2001.

I find it reassuring that finally Pet recycling seems to have taken off and it has occurred just in time too since the supply of PET container such as bottles and jars has also set a record of 4.637 billion pounds. Obviously, there is still a long way to go with recycling PET containers, but I find this news very encouraging. The recycling rate is also helped by fact that Recycled PET (RPET) has stable prices that now effectively can compete with virgin PET. Thanks to enforcement of Rigid Plastics Packaging Container Law in California which requires a minimum of 25% post-consumer recycled content in rigid plastic packaging for nonfood products, RPET bottles and jars have tripled.

While it is encouraging that post consumer recycling of PET packaging is increasing, there are still companies that use PET packaging that are dumping PET bottles and PET jars when they become excess or surplus rather than selling or brokering their surplus packaging with a company that specializes in liquidating surplus packaging such as Closeout Packaging.

It is amazing that some companies will let obsolete surplus packaging deteriorate in their warehouse and use up valuable real estate rather then turning their surplus packaging into cash. When was the last time you went through your warehouse to see what surplus packaging to could sell and turn stagnant inventory into working capital all while saving the environment?