Petstar’s Post Consumer Resin (PCR) Plant, in Toluca, Mexico is rolling out their welcome carpets to 7th LAPET delegates on 10 Nov, 2009.

This exclusive opportunity will offer a peek into PetStar’s PCR plant, the largest Bottle to Bottle PET Recycling plant in Latin America, which will produce more than 48 million pounds of food-grade resin annually, by recycling over 64 million pounds of post-consumer PET bottles.

Participants will get to tour the plant, which consists of two washing lines, a laboratory, an extrusion and purification line, raw material & end product warehouses, machine room, electric power substation and water treatment plant. Petstar executives will be on hand to share experiences on the running of a PCR plant!

The schedule for the site visit is as follows:

14:15 Gather at Hotel Lobby and Depart for Toluca

15:30 Arrive at Petstar PCR plant followed by tour of the facility

16:30 Leave for Hotel

17:30 Arrive in Hotel

The site visit is offered to 7th LAPET participants at no additional cost. There are limited seats available due to logistical and safety considerations, and booking is based on first-come-first served basis. The Closing date for site visit registration is 2 Nov 2009 or once the maximum capacity is reached.

Hurry up and register NOW to avoid disappointment.

>>Click Here to visit the 7th LAPET registration page to sign up for the conference & site visit.<<

14 Sep, 2009

PetStar’s state-of-the-art bottle-to-bottle recycling facility in Toluca, Mexico will produce more than 48 million pounds of food-grade resin annually. The plant which held its grand opening in April this year, plans to double its capacity in two years. It is the largest Bottle to Bottle PET Recycling plant in Latin America.

The US$35 million plant can recycle over 64 million pounds of recycled PET annually, or nearly 1 billion bottles, enough volume to fill a football stadium. PetStar aims to integrate and use over 90% of the volume processed to add value and produce a solid state recycling PET resin that they aim to sell domestically.

In an interview with PlasticsNews.com, PetStar’s Director-General Jaime Camara said, “Our aim is to do closed-loop recycling in Mexico, turning PET bottles back to food-grade resin that we can sell back to soft-drink and water bottlers to make new bottles”.

He added that bottlers plan to produce bottles with 10-25 percent recycled content, using Petstar’s recycled resin.

Coca-Cola USA in a separate statement says it plans to boost the recycle content of its PET bottles to 10 percent by the end of 2010, increasing to 25 percent in 2015.

In addition to the recycling facility, Petstar is also running an innovative social-responsibility program, which will help improve the welfare of informal laborers and reduce the incidence of child labor in the waste sector.

Petstar is part of Houston-based recycling services company Avangard Innovative Ltd. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Avangard Mexico SA de CV will supply the plant with raw material. Avangard Mexico started collecting PET bottles in Mexico since 1995, and is the largest collector of Post-Consumer and Post-Industrial plastics in Latin America.

Mexico occupies second place worldwide (behind the US) in PET consumption, using 750,000 metric tons yearly. About 17% of all MexicanPET is collected for recycling (compared with 24% in the US). Up to 2008, about 75% of Post Consumer PET was exported out of the country to USA, China and India for fiber production.

Mexican Recycling Industry (IMER), a joint venture of Coca-Cola de Mexico, bottler Coca-Cola Femsa and converter ALPLA, opened the first bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Mexico in 2005.

Across the border in Spartanburg, USA, Coca-Cola has a joint venture with United Resource Recovery Corp. LLC for a bottle-to-bottle recycling plant, the biggest in the world which opened in 1 Feb 2009. Its capacity will reach 100 million pounds in 2010.

Along with Petstar, a senior representative from Coca-Cola will be present at 7^th LAPET to talk about PET and their sustainability initiatives.   

Be sure to sign up for 7^th LAPET conference in Mexico City on 9-10 November 2009 to network with PET industry majors. Register online now or contact Ms. Jaime Ng at +65 6346 9145 or email at jaime@cmtsp.com.sg.

27 Aug, 2009

Here are some rave reviews from delegates who attended the last

6th LAPET Summit 2008 in Mexico City last November:

Great opportunity to get updated information on PET business in LA region

~ Strategic Business Director, Plastipak

Excellent insights from experts to global PET packaging efforts

~ Senior Account Manager, CSX

The conference is very informative and it has some great speakers who conveyed the trials and tribulation facts on the PET market

~ Senior Analyst, Nexant Inc

An excellent approach to Latin America PET conditions and markets

~ Packaging R&D Director, Industrias Alen

Great management & excellent control of time for conference

~ Quality Manager, ITW Servicios

It is a worth conference to attend

~ Director, FI-TECH INC

Excellent audience and very good event

~ General Manager, QSat Ingeniería

~ Director, Pemex Petroquimica

~ General Manager, Vinipack S.A.

Very informative on PET's market in Latin America

~ Market Specialist, Gala Industries

Valuable information and interesting event

~ Commercial Director, OMNI PACK

~ Director Adjunto, Embotelladora Aga

Be sure to sign up for 7th LAPET conference in Mexico City on 9-10 November 2009 to network with PET industry majors. Register online now or contact Ms. Jaime Ng at +65 6346 9145 or email jaime@cmtsp.com.sg

19 Aug, 2009

Into its 7th year, LAPET is Latin America’s biggest and most influential PET event! Covering the entire value chain from Feedstocks and Resin markets, to Preform and Container productions to Recycling, the 7th LAPET conference in Mexico City on 9-10 November 2009, offers attendees an overview of the dynamics and trends shaping the PET sector in Latin America and around the world.

The global economic downturn has made its impression on the Global PET industry, with producers feeling the pressure from both upstream and downstream. Volatile feedstock prices and the global recession and uncertainty have weakened demand.

Additionally, the new capacity built up during the favourable market conditions enjoyed through 2005 and 2006 came on stream in 2008 to coincide with the demand downturn. The industry also had to contend with competition from the Recycled PET sector, whose production has doubled over the past four years to 6 million tonnes in 2008.

According to ICIS’ “Half Empty Half Full- PET Presents a Mixed Outlook” report, Latin America’s PET markets show continued growth potential but all of the abovementioned factors present challenges. Although Latin America is rich in resources, the region still needs more investment to get these raw materials to the PET markets.

Latin America also needs to remain competitive while managing variable costs especially in feedstocks and labour, and will face the threat of oversupply if buyers flock to cheaper imports from Asia or the US.

These are some of the pressing issues that the industry’s most influential executives and technologists will share insights on at the upcoming 7th LAPET conference, which convenes in Mexico City on 9-10 November 2009.

Other key discussion topics include:

- Trends & Challenges in the Latin America Preform market

- Brand Owners' Requirements and Expectations

- New Production Technologies - Energy Saving, Light Weighting, Short Neck Finish and many more

- Developments in Recycling Technology and Utilization of PCR materials

… plus many more.

If you are keen on confirming your participation as delegates, media partners, exhibitors and / or sponsors at the 7th LAPET summit, you can submit your registrations, enquiries and proposals >>HERE<< or contact Ms. Jaime at +65 6346 9145 or email at jaime@cmtsp.com.sg.