THIN-WALL MOULDING | TECHNOLOGY


Global groups take a circular turn


An indication of the altered attitudes to plastic waste among multinational companies could be seen at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Our Ocean conference in Bali last October, when a global commitment to eliminate plastics waste at source was signed by more than 250 organisations repre- senting 20% of all plastic packaging produced globally. Businesses that sign the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment will publish annual data on their progress to help drive momentum and ensure transparency. Targets include eliminating problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging and move from single-use to reuse packaging models; innovating to ensure all plastic packaging can be easily and safely reused, recycled, or composted by 2025; and significantly


increasing the amounts of plastics reused or recycled and made into new packaging or products. January saw the launch of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste by major polymer producers and others, pledging $1.5bn over the next five years to develop and bring to scale solutions that will minimise and manage plastic waste and promote post-use solutions (see page 13). “There is no doubt that plastics have played a positive role in improving quality of life for billions of people around the world,” says Bob Patel, CEO of one of the founding companies, LyondellBasell. “But like so many other products, responsibly managing their disposal or reuse has become a concern – not just for governments or NGOs, but for all of us.” Polyolefin suppliers in particular


international competition for shelf space. We were able to assist them with our extensive long-stand- ing experience.” Kotronis began life as a food company, starting a


shift to packaging production in 1970. It has been in injection moulding since the end of the last century and now runs 50 injection moulding machines in a 24/7 operation in Nafpaktos, western Greece. “Kotronis is by far the most innovative packaging producer in Greece,“ says Arnaud Nomblod, Director Business Development Packag- ing with Sumitomo (SHI) Demag. Kotronis installed its first high-speed El-Exis SP machine with a hybrid drive in 2007. It now operates 21, with five more on order. It has eight all-electric IntElect machines. The company currently produces around 350 million packaging products per year for deli salads, yoghurt, feta cheese, spreads, antipasti and ice cream. Over half of them end up abroad. A typical production unit equipped with a four-cavity mould produces tubs with 0.45 mm wall thicknesses that weigh 8.6 g, in a cycle time of 4.8 s.


“High availability and high machine speed are


the relevant factors that keep us abreast of the competition,“ CEO Augustinos Kotronis says. “Let’s say, a large international supermarket chain wants to launch a ‘Greek Week‘, then we can deliver on the spot, even if the special labels for this cam-


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have become highly active in plastics waste reduction and recycling investment. Borealis says it was the first virgin PO producer to explore the possibilities of mechanical recycling by acquiring one of Europe’s largest producers of post-consumer polyole- fin recyclates, MTM Plastics in Ger- many, in July 2016. Then, last August, Borealis acquired Austrian plastics recycler Ecoplast Kunststoffrecycling, which recycles post-consumer polyethylenes. Rival LyondellBasell early last year


entered into a joint venture with Suez to acquire Quality Circular Polymers, a plastics recycling company in the Netherlands. Last July, LyondellBasell signed an agreement with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany to advance chemical recycling of used plastics.


paign are only released at the eleventh hour.” Commercial director Lefteris Antonakakis adds: “In order to implement their visions, our customers are seeking suppliers that share these visions.” Kotronis recently cooperated with Greece’s largest producer of feta cheese to develop barrier packaging which extends the shelf life of feta cheese in brine without preservatives by six months. Back at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, Nomblod says


that when it developed the current generation of high-speed El-Exis machines for packaging applications, it focused on optimising energy and resource efficiency. “The El-Exis SP launched last March consumes up to 20% less energy than comparable machines, without cutting corners in terms of performance and quality,” he claims. “We are currently exploring the possibilities of a further integration of robots, automation equipment and solutions for visual mould control into higher-level control and management systems.”


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.arburg.com � www.netstal.com � www.wittmann-group.com � www.husky.ca � www.milacron.com � www.sumitomo-shi-demag.eu � www.kotronis-plastics.gr


January/February 2019 | INJECTION WORLD 35


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