RETAL Baltic has gained EU Funding to support the economic and professional development of its staff.
Thanks to the European Union Funds’ Investments in 2014-2020, RETAL Baltic will promote a range of valuable skills through high-level training across its production team, including ‘adaptation to economic changes, improvement of professional qualifications and the development of specific professional competencies'.
The total value of the project is EUR 538,133.88, of which EUR 269,066.94 is funded by the European Social Fund. RETAL Baltic has gained funding from the Priority 9 ‘Public Education and Enhancing the Potential of the Human Resources’ of the Operational Programme, which is due to end in August 2021.
General Manager of RETAL Baltic Viktorija Jureviciute says, “We are delighted to have gained funding to support our in-service training as we are committed to the continual development of our team, both for their personal and professional development and for the on-going enhancement of RETAL’s PET and rPET packaging solutions. We thank the European Social Fund for this valuable contribution, and we look forward to utilising the additional skills the training will bring.”
Popular in non-food and food-grade packaging for meat, fish, dairy and ready meals, black and metallized films are currently very difficult to recycle as the infrared is absorbed by the carbon instead of being reflected towards the sensor, rendering the material invisible. As part of a global circular economy strategy, RETAL Baltic is installing a state-of-the-art line to process more r-PET and PET scraps, and is gradually moving away from black masterbatch with carbon to create more circular black and metallized films that are easily recognized in standard recycling sorting facilities.
Investment in the new extrusion line at RETAL Baltic means the global plastic packaging manufacturer is continuing to provide greater volumes of rPET film, with 100% rPET films now able to be produced. Robertas Grizas, RETAL Baltic’s APET Production Development Manager, says, “We want to ensure that we are maximizing the value of plastic waste, both post-industrial and post-consumer. By investing in this new extrusion line – which can process all types of PET scrap, we can produce food-grade black and metallized rPET film that can be recognized by recycling sorting equipment as it uses an alternative to black carbon masterbatch, and we can also use up to 100% rPET flakes in its manufacture.”
As thermoformer and brand owner customers increase their demands on the sustainability credentials of their packaging, global plastic packaging manufacturer RETAL is proud to move forwards alongside them. Grizas continues, “There’s no need to incinerate or send black and metallized films to landfill anymore as RETAL can effectively reprocess it back into production for food-grade packaging for global brand owners.”
The new RETAL Baltic extrusion line will further boost the company’s commitment to the circular economy by processing waste from multilayer films as well as the black and metallized films. Grizas adds, “RETAL has acquired the technology to use hard to recycle post-industrial waste that we collect from our customers. RETAL produces transparent and colored films, including black and metallized, and though there has been a tendency for thermoforming customers to prefer transparent films to colored and metallised, now RETAL can help with their post industrial waste to be processed it into food-grade films. It is crucial to keep black rPET in the plastic packaging value chain as it allows for all colours of scrap to be mixed when reprocessed into rPET and promotes its use, so RETAL is delighted to be creating more circular black rPET film.”
RETAL’s Sustainability Director Emmanuel Duffault appreciates that this latest investment is another positive step in the company’s progressive position on developing and producing more sustainable and circular plastic packaging. Duffaut says, “By investing in new technology that can efficiently process up to 100% rPET flakes and by improving the recyclability of our products using non-carbon black masterbatch, we are further illustrating our commitment to providing thermoformers and brand owners with plastic packaging that combines convenience with sustainability.”
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The key unifying theme of FachPack 2019 is of course ‘Environmentally friendly packaging’, but this covers a huge diversity of topics from across the entire packaging supply chain. We asked exhibitors about the ideas and solutions they will be presenting at the event, and which trends or developments they are most curious about.
RETAL
The RETAL Baltic team of film experts will be on hand to discuss our latest line that produces films of up to 100 per cent rPET, a great boost from our current 60 per cent rPET.
RETAL Baltic values FachPack’s strong focus on sustainability and how this core issue impacts us all.
We expect to learn more about how we can all contribute and play our role in the circular economy.
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Staying close to consumer trends is crucial for progressive packaging manufacturers. The global mega trend for greater convenience shows no sign of slowing down1, while the growing understanding for the need for sustainable solutions across FMCG brands is increasingly both a legal2 and an emotional requirement.
As consumers across age, nationality and social demographics identify with being busier and more time-poor, so too do they want to maximise their hard-earned leisure time. Consumers are exhausted! Exhausted by choice, responsibilities, demands on their time. They are constantly accessible to colleagues, bosses, friends and family through smart phones and social media. Expectations to perform are high.
Consumers' stressful on-the-go lifestyles means that they value self-care more than ever before. People are starting to appreciate that being this busy means being more stressed, with a greater understanding of the negative impact on what stress does to our wellbeing. The growing trend for taking better care of ourselves3 – both of our physical and mental health - means that there are unparalleled opportunities for wellness brands to gain brand ambassadors; consumers that identify with their values, whether that's gluten-free, dairy-free, luxurious, organic – and they're happy to shout about it.
Win, win
Balancing these seemingly contradictory trends is a fascinating element of differentiation for packaging manufacturers and their R&D teams. The goal to create desirable, sustainable plastic packaging for bottled water is in everyone's interest; consumers, legislators, packaging manufacturers and beverage brand owners all have a part to play and a dog in the fight.
The multinational team across RETAL's global manufacturing is continually looking at ways to ensure that its products are lighter and smarter, with clever ways to make sure that the PET preforms, closures and containers it creates are taking part of the responsibility on board. From integrating state-of-the-art software so physical prototyping is unnecessary, to installing huge solar panel plants on its factories, to working closely with global beverage brands to guarantee that its plastic water bottles have tethered closures that helps to avoid contaminated recycling and increase their collection due to not being lost in general waste, RETAL is working on active ways to mitigate its impact.
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Global plastic packaging manufacturer RETAL publishes its first Sustainability Report that sets out its ambitious CSR strategy and action plan.
At a time when plastic packaging is in the spotlight and sustainability issues such as climate change are of great concern to our customers and stakeholders, RETAL felt crucial to bring more transparency to its sustainability action and performance.
RETAL's Sustainability Director Emmanuel Duffaut says, “We welcome the spotlight on plastic packaging as it helps to push us even further forward in our ongoing CSR effort to develop more sustainable and circular packaging; RETAL is determined to integrate CSR principles across our whole business to develop on a sustainable way”.
From sourcing renewable energy and light weighting our products, to assessing our Human rights impacts or evaluating our suppliers’ CSR performance and raising awareness on fighting plastic pollution, we know that our impact goes beyond the packaging we produce and we take a value chain approach.”
The Sustainability Report is available to download on the RETAL corporate website (link). Purposefully easy to read and accessible, the report is a wide-ranging document that clarifies RETAL's current sustainability position and its mission and expectations, addressing topics including our approach to CSR management and our action on climate change and circular economy.
Duffaut adds, “RETAL's first Sustainability Report marks our seriousness in this crucial journey and puts in place our intention to progress profitably as a responsible plastic packaging producer and partner. By openly accepting the scrutiny and opinions of our stakeholder groups, we wish to formalise a future that mitigates our environmental and social impacts of our business.”
Producing 100% rPET food-grade films from all colours and all kinds of PET scrap (post-consumer PET bottle, trays and industrial) is now possible at RETAL.
Investment in a new extrusion line at RETAL Baltic will help the company use greater volumes of post-consumer resins and industrial scrap from metalized, multilayer, laminated, black and coloured PET film packaging in the production of food-grade packaging material, supporting this global packaging manufacturer’s ongoing commitment to a plastic circular economy.
RETAL Baltic has invested more than three million Euros in a third new extrusion line that can process up to 100% of recycled PET (rPET) flakes, significantly increasing on the facility's current 60% capability. These 100% rPET films are recyclable and easily recognised in standard recycling sorting facilities.
This third extrusion line will be at full capacity by October 2019, increasing RETAL Baltic’s annual consumption of sec-ondary raw material (post-consumer and post-industrial PET waste) from 7200 metric tonnes to 12,800 metric tonnes.
Robertas Grizas, RETAL Baltic's APET Production Development Manager, says, “There's no need to incinerate or send black and/or metalized films to landfill anymore as RETAL can effectively and efficiently put it back into production for food-grade packaging film which can be used by global brand owners.”
The demand from brand owners for black and/or metallized film has been decreasing, as brands are keen to increase their sustainability performance. Thermoformed packaging made from black and/or metallized PET film is labelled "difficult to recycle" due to being unrecognised by recycling plants’ infrared sorting equipment, meaning that used packaging is not directed to the recycling stream.
Yet, particularly for the meat, dairy, fish and ready meal categories, black and metalized multilayer PET/PE films are the ideal packaging vehicle as they support excellent shelf life, provide strong barrier properties and are visually appealing to consumers. Black rPET is also valuable to the circular economy in general as it offers an excellent destination for scrap PET of all colours, so keeping it in the packaging value chain is crucial.
Grizas adds, “RETAL has acquired the technology to use multilayer PET waste in the form of regrinds that we buy back from our customers, reducing the post-industrial waste which might otherwise be channeled to incineration. RETAL produces almost all colours of films, including non-carbon black and metalized films, and there has been a tendency for thermoforming customers to specify transparent films. But now we can help with their post-industrial waste as we have the capacity to reprocess it into food-grade films.”
With RETAL increasingly aware of its influence across stakeholder groups, investments such as this new film extrusion line highlights how, by working together with brand owners, thermoforming customers and influential industry players, the company can keep edging towards a responsible life cycle of PET packaging solutions that deliver convenience and sustainability.
Attending trade exhibitions is resource-intensive. As a responsible global packaging manufacturer, RETAL takes attending trade exhibitions seriously; we don't go to many, so those we do need to be excellent.
As a global company with senior management located worldwide, the vast majority of our internal communications is conducted online. Group meetings are usually through video conferencing, with only annual meetings face-to-face, as part of the company's Smart Travel approach. Effective online communication means we greatly reduce our carbon footprint as well as offer a more flexible workplace for our employees.
This autumn, members of the international RETAL team will be attending both FachPack and BrauBeviale, giving us a chance to not only meet with key customers and potential customers, but also to see each other in person!
RETAL's senior marketing manager Mariya Ushakova says, “Sustainability is a priority across RETAL and across the packaging industry; it's a key theme for both FachPack and BrauBeviale, and very much underpins everything we do at RETAL. Both events are great opportunities for us to share interesting innovations with our customers, particularly our new tethered closure solution that’s closely aligned to RETAL’s plastic pollution reduction strategy in line with EU Directives. I also really value the chance to be on the stand with my colleagues! We enjoy each other's company and it's so good to bring our combined energy to the stand.”
FachPack, from September 24 – 26 in Nuremberg, Germany, will see RETAL at stand 9-203. Our multilingual team is pleased to join this key complete packaging industry supply chain event, with environmentally-responsible innovations including our latest up-to 100% rPET film.
Get free entry to FachPack as our guest by using the RETAL code A410244 here.
BrauBeviale, from November 12-14 and also in Nuremberg, hosts the RETAL stand at 4-323, with the whole of the beverage value chain represented. It’s a great opportunity for our local team to present our complete PET and rPET portfolio, including our much-anticipated tethered closures, with plenty of samples available and experts on hand to share performance advantages.
Visitors to BrauBeviale are welcome to use the RETAL code B413453 for free entry
See you at RETAL’s stand!
Innovations in closures and caps give brand-owners an opportunity to differentiate through convenience and style - and helps packaging manufacturers stay ahead of the game. With lightweighting and clever design key in the more visible role of closures and caps, Emma-Jane Batey speaks to players across the packaging value chain to learn more.
Light yet strong
For global packaging manufacturer RETAL, the closures issue is a chance to add an extra level of responsibility to its offering, with its multinational household-name customers increasingly demanding solutions that support their CSR targets. The company showcased its new high-grip closure design at BrauBeviale last year, which offers more options for plastic reduction in beverage packaging. RETAL’s high-grip closure is 19.85mm, the same height as a standard closure, but just 2.45g, saving around 1.3g of weight per bottle compared with standard bottles, thanks to the unique manufacture of the closures that allows for deeper grooves to distribute the weight across a taller surface area.
The innovative design is more sustainable as it uses less plastic, is easy to grip and open, and retains rigidity due to the height. Dalia Petrauskaite, RETAL’s closures director, says, “We worked closely with the market-leading bottle-filling company to create a functional solution that delivers high market acceptance thanks to its consumer-friendly attributes such as being easy to open and grip. Our High Grip closures offer many unique advantages; light yet strong, it also allows co-packers to reuse their existing stacking trays that are for standard 1810 specifications, making the High Grip even more eco-friendly.”
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Joining RETAL Baltic, RETAL Lithuania and RETAL PA (USA), the company's Italian facility is now part of the company’s initiative to reduce its carbon footprint and has switched to 100% renewable energy.
RETAL Italia purchases renewable electricity through the Guaranteed Energy accountability scheme, that certifies that the energy provided by the supplier is effectively produced from renewable sources.
In April 2019, RETAL Italia signed a contract with largest energy and gas supplier SUM, part of the Confindustria organisation that supports manufacturers in buying renewable energy. RETAL Italia has cooperated with SUM and Confindustria for many years. Their deep market knowledge and expert advice gave the possibility to buy renewable electricity that will provide constant and competitively-priced power for RETAL Italia facility.
RETAL’s volume of electricity consumption from renewable sources will now be 37% across the group and 55% in the European Region, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be 37% and 62%, respectively.
Sustainability director Emmanuel Duffault says, “This is excellent progress as we continue to meet our GHG emissions reduction targets, ensure we adhere to our global customers’ CSR requirements and contribute to climate change mitigation.”
RETAL is committed to increase the use of renewable energy and has already identified new opportunities for 2020.
These initiatives are yet another proof of RETAL’s total commitment to sustainable development and taking action to combat climate change.
Investment in advanced CAD software means RETAL can create precise bottle simulations without incurring the cost or time of prototyping.
PET and rPET packaging producer RETAL is dedicated to delivering responsible solutions to its global beverage customers, so this latest development supports its focus on creating lighter, stronger bottles that meet the precise performance and sustainability goals of brand owners.
Designer Andzejus Buinovskis explains, “We searched the market for a dedicated software suite that would allow us to simulate the stretch blow moulding process, but we couldn't find what we wanted, so we worked with Dassault Systemes to add several plug ins to its ABAQUS software product that provided the exact 3D modelling and types of parameters we require.”
The bespoke simulation software now in operation at RETAL's dedicated R&D Centre means that it is able to create precise information regarding performance relating to the distribution of the thickness and stretch ratio of the bottles without needing to produce a physical product. Buinovskis adds, “With the 3D model of the preform and bottle, we can simulate different temperatures, movements, pressures and pre-blow and blow variations. It's a powerful tool that saves the considerable time and money associated with prototyping; in one case, two bottles of the same weight but different geometry showed that one had a better stretch ratio, making it stronger.”
Comparing bottles of the same weight with different geometry, it is possible to choose the most durable bottle in terms of stretch ratio. This means that physical tests can be conducted for the most optimal model, avoiding the cost of testing all intermediate versions.
Investing in this complex software makes it faster, cheaper and easier for its global brand customers to choose the precise bottle for their food and beverage applications.