Shell Chemicals Europe Ltd (Shell Centre, GB-London SE1 7NA) officially opened its new PET plant in Italy at the end of September, increasing Shell's worldwide capacity by almost 20%. The plant is part of SIPET (Societa Italiana Polietilene Tereftalato SpA, I-03010 Patrica, FR). With a capacity of 180,000 t/y, it is currently the largest PET manufacturing plant in Europe. The plant handles both melting and solid phases of the PET production process. This project underscores Shell's ambition to become the worldwide leader in the PET sector. By the end of this year, the company should be able to produce 600,000 t/y of PET in its plants in Italy, Great Britain and the USA, as well as a new plant in Mexico.

Speaking to representatives of Europe's trade press at the opening ceremony, Stephen Wood, head of Shell Chemicals Europe's PET Division, emphasized that one goal of the company's strong commitment to the PET market is to use the expanded production volume "to provide customers with even more innovative, high-quality packaging solutions". Further evidence of this can be seen in the fact that Shell invests over USD 20m annually in research and development of its PET raw materials. According to David Swift, responsible for PET Product Development, two new types of PET are in the pipeline: "Cleartuf Aqua", with its low acetaldehyde content for the mineral water market and "Cleartuf Ultra" for carbonated beverages. Swift anticipates the first test results early next year.

In addition, "Petlite II" is being developed as a highly crystalline polyester dimensionally stable enough to be used for packaging material which can be heated in microwave ovens. Finally, Shell's "Hipertuf" product line is made of PEN homopolymers, PET/PEN copolymers and blends.

READER SERVICE: Shell's press materials on PET (German) and SIPET company profile brochure (Italian): PIE-No. 41564.