Packaging specialist Tetra Pak (Germany: Tetra Pak GmbH, Postf. 1167, D-65233 Hochheim) is extending its product range and, as of now, will be supplying plastic packaging in Germany as well as cardboard packaging.

Tetra Pak Plastic Packaging R&D GmbH (D-64293 Darmstadt) is offering two patented barrier coatings for PET bottles, produced by two new processes. The “Glaskin” technology involves a transparent layer of silicon oxide (SiOx) being applied to the inside of ready-blow-moulded PET bottles. This tasteless layer prevents the exchange of gas. Tests with beer and juice did not reveal any quality impairment. Since the layer is extremely thin, the bottles coated in this way can be recycled via the DSD “green dot” scheme. The second coating system, “Sealica”, is based on an innovative approach: a barrier layer in the new “Blox” thermoplastic from Dow Chemical Co (Midland, MI 48674, USA) – see Plasteurope.com 24, 1999 – is applied to the outside of the preform already. The layer thickness can be varied as required, so that different degrees of gas tightness can be obtained for different packaging contents. The customer then only pays for the amount of barrier material actually required.

Tetra Pak´s blow moulding machines and aseptic PET filling plant have already been tried out abroad. The Group operates four preform plants worldwide with an overall annual capacity of 2 billion articles. Following its acquisition of the French Novembal Group (Les Cheres, F-69480 Anse), Tetra Pak also has its own development and production base in the field of plastic closures.

The Tetra Pak range also includes two fully-automatic PET stretch blow moulding machines: the two-cavity “Tetra Plast LX-2” machine has a capacity of 3,000 bottles per hour maximum and is suitable for the production of bottles holding from 0.25 to 3 l. The company refers to its six-cavity “Tetra Plast LX-6” machine as “the fastest machine in its class at present”. With a maximum of 7,200 bottles per hour, its output is 20% higher than that of conventional plants. Both the PET stretch blow moulding machines are produced in Italy. The bottles can be used for beverages and liquid foods, ranging from carbonated drinks, via beer and ice tea, through to edible oil. Tetra Pak supplies an all-in system for filling non-carbonated beverages. This includes stretch blow moulding machines and filling plants and gets by without a clean room. The plant has a filling capacity of some 12,000 bottles per hour.

New in Germany are the PE-HD bottles that Tetra Pak offers as a packaging variant for dairy products. Export-oriented customers, in particular, were calling for plastics packaging, explains Harry Salonaho, chairman of the Tetra Pak Group board of management. The company has been producing bottles for dairy products since the mid-nineties, particularly for the British market.

Tetra Pak (HQ: CH-1009 Pully/Lausanne) has 72 companies worldwide and is divided into three divisions: the Fibre Division (cardboard packaging), the Plastics Division (plastics packaging) and the Processing Division (food processing systems). Overall sales totalled DEM 13.3bn in 1998. Tetra Pak Deutschland achieved sales of DEM 1.3bn in this same year, with a payroll of some 1,300.