RETAL Design Engineer presents at AMI Plastic Closures Innovations

RETAL design engineer Andzejus Buinovskis presented at the AMI Plastic Closures Innovations Virtual Summit on 2nd - 3rd June, with his informative presentation provoking interesting questions in the Q&A session.

Andzejus created a video presentation highlighting his insight on the RETAL tethered closures journey and the circular economy. “I shared how RETAL has developed a series of tethered closures in accordance with the list of requirements from the leading brand owners. I was determined to add more personal insight too as everyone presenting was working to the same set of criteria.”

This smart approach lead Andzejus to highlight how collecting and recycling play a key role in the circular economy, as well as showing how reusing molds is a big contributor to sustainable development. He adds, “I was also pleased to include details of how Lithuania has integrated deposit schemes and that 80% of bottles come with the closures attached – even though they’re not tethered!”

The 'immersive virtual event' was attended by leading brand representatives, equipment manufacturers and packaging producers, with the presentations and following discussions showing how the focus on tethered closures, lightweighting and the circular economy are still at the forefront of packaging and beverage industry drivers.

Retal USA: New sales team

Retal’s US plant, Retal PA in Donora, PA, reports increased productivity across their operation. CEO and president Darius Janulionus, who took over the running of the fast-growing plant from his role as production director for Retal Lithuania, says, “Of course we all know that 2020 was full of challenges, and 2021 is still not plain sailing, but thanks to the strength and hard work of our team, we can happily say that we have achieved better than hoped for results. We have seen increased productivity across our operation, which is largely due to the team working together, utilising opportunities to share our expertise and listening closely to our customers’ changing needs. Staying agile has been crucial.”

The sales team is led by chemical engineer Bob Phillips, a well-known face in the US plastic packaging industry, alongside sales coordinator Brittany Brooks and latest recruit Vlad Nyemstov. Biochemist Brittany worked in the RPA quality laboratory prior to joining the sales team and brings knowledge about preform production. The latest addition to the RPA sales team is Vlad Nyemstov, an Ukraine native who has lived in the US for five years. The Programming Engineer joined Retal in the middle of February.

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Careers in packaging

The packaging industry offers a microcosm of the corporate world when it comes to career opportunities. The broad range of careers available in plastics packaging manufacturing allows for extensive professional development, in a sector that is proudly embracing the vocal demands of the brands and consumers that are its active stakeholders. Not to mention the fact that the manufacturers themselves are keen to be sustainable from both a business and an environmental perspective.

This joint focus of responsibility allows for interesting careers across the various functions of a plastics packaging converter, as Anthony Langel, finance manager for Retal PA – the Pennsylvania, US facility of global plastics packaging producer Retal – knows only too well. Langel joined the company in 2019, having spent the majority of his early career in financial consulting to the IT industry. With a finance degree and an MBA that focused on the industrial sector, Anthony has more than a decade of experience in professional environments.

But what made him move into the packaging industry? “My initial finance career developed through consulting for small businesses that did not have their own financial department, which gave me a great insight into all aspects of finance for commercial operations as well as a real ‘in at the deep end’ experience! I valued the chance to learn quickly and to speak directly with the people at the head of the businesses I was consulting for, as this meant I saw the workings of a range of types of company, from real estate to construction, to industrial.”

This close contact with decision makers has given Langel the chance to see how businesses can be more profitable, and how to action that in practical ways. He explains: “I have an affinity for cost accounting; revenue vs net costs, gross margin issues…lots of businesses can look at the money they’re bringing in without looking at the value. For example, with one client I realised that they were paying a per diem on payroll for armed security guards, yet this brought with it additional costs of insurance and added risk, and yet the need for armed security was not necessary. I like to find real world examples of how money is being spent and analyse if that is the most effective way; where figures cross over with value.”

Langel initially contacted Retal after seeing a job advert for a finance manager that he only had seven of the requisite 10 years’ experience for. Although not initially called for interview, the HR manager saw his clear career progression and set up an interview for a position when the previous finance manager left.

“I feel like we both benefited as I was able to show how keen I was to be part of a global business and the HR manager could see that I was positive and ready to learn more about the specifics of their business,” adds Langel.

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Lithuania native finds opportunity in Donora

Moving across the Atlantic Ocean from Lithuania to Pittsburgh in December 2019 to become general manager of global plastic packaging manufacturer RETAL’s Donora plant was a career opportunity for Darius Janulionis that came about because of his proven leadership ability.

It has become just as important that he is positive by nature, as the COVID-19 pandemic has meant a very different situation has evolved.

With two young daughters in kindergarten and a singer wife with a career of her own, Janulionis’ life in Lithuania was successful and rewarding.

He has worked at RETAL for more than seven years, having progressed rapidly to the position of production director at the company’s Lentvaris factory, the largest and most profitable of its 19 global sites, after being recognized by the board of directors as one to watch. The company employs 2,000 people worldwide.

When the previous general manager of the RETAL PA factory left, Janulionis was offered the role, with the expectation that his understanding of the business and strong team-building skills would be an ideal fit for the Donora factory, which was the newest of the RETAL portfolio and contained considerable untapped potential.

“The plan was for me to come to Pittsburgh to start the job, get settled with a home and find schools for the girls, then my family would be able to join me,” he said. “But of course 2020 didn’t go as planned for any of us.

“I expected to fly home a few times before they moved over here, but I was not able to get home since the pandemic started as of course the majority of international travel has been banned; every time I booked a flight, it got canceled.”

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RETAL supports STEM student initiative in Pittsburgh

PET preform that helps to extend shelf life

Global plastic packaging manufacturer Retal is actively working with a leading food and agri-business to manufacture a PET preform that helps to extend the shelf life of its popular refrigerated drinking yoghurt in Africa. To achieve this, Retal is adding ColorMatrix Lactra SX Light Blocking Additive to its monolayer PET bottles for the multi-national producer’s refrigerated drinking yoghurt specifically for the Nigerian market. The PolyOne additive is claimed to block 99.9% of light, thus protecting the dairy product.

Jiri Nydrle, Sales manager at Retal Czech, is working directly with the customer, and said “Light blocking is a particularly hot topic in the African dairy market and, at present, we only export this monolayer PET preform with the Lactra additive as there is not the current demand for dairy milk in PET bottles in Europe as cartons have a clear dominance in the UHT sector.” He continued “The brand owner in Nigeria had a break in their supply chain so we were asked to help by our valued long-term partner Caraway Africa Nigeria Ltd. Our sales director got the initial contact and he was able to quickly close the deal. The whole offer was discussed online and we were able to agree prices and arrange for 10 containers to be sent to Nigeria. It was a very effective method of communication and kept everything moving quickly; it shows a new way of working.”

With all the constituents of the solid masterbatch ColorMatrix Lactra SX Light Blocking Additive certified as food safe, it offers a good way to extend shelf life without impacting the product quality; drinking yoghurt in Lactra preforms has a six month refrigerated shelf life. Lactra does not need to be dried before processing; it is solid state pellets that are added as close as possible to the extruder entrance, and it creates an opaque white preform with an almost total light block.

Retal expects to see continued demand for preforms with Lactra in other countries as it delivers good refrigerated shelf-stability for dairy products without adding weight as monolayer PET is used.

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Retal molding plant gives struggling PA town another chance to shine

Donora, Pa. — In 2016, Cyprus-based Retal Industries Ltd. decided to pick a former Spartech Corp. compounding plant in Pennsylvania as its first U.S. base.

Donora's nickname "home of the champions" proved to be as relevant today as it was in its 1950s heyday as the company's decision to locate there gave the community another chance.

While the well publicized difficulties of towns and communities throughout the rust belt are also true, the clear characteristics of hard work, loyalty and positivity shine through.

This undeniable spirit was one of the main pulls for global plastic packaging manufacturer Retal Industries decision to build in Donora, with the process of creating its factory and ensuring it quickly became successfully active gaining invaluable support from the local community.

Elizabeth Giecek, human resources manager at Retal PA LLC, joined the company in May 2017, and has a close understanding of how the community support allowed the business to find a happy home.

"I'm originally from about 35 minutes away from Donora, in Washington, and I've always been interested in the history of the valley. It used to be that each town had its own mill and there were plenty of good jobs for regular people, but as the mills started pulling out it got harder," she said.

"Steel production started to decline from the early 1980s, and it was also that pollution became more of an issue throughout the valley. So the tone changed; people and families needed to leave to find jobs, and young people graduated and left," she said.

But while the tone of Donora and its neighboring towns changed, that local pride and expectation of hard work remained.

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INCREASED OPTIMISATION WITH LABORATORY AND WAREHOUSE INVESTMENT AT RETAL BALTIC FILMS

The pace of RETAL’s ongoing development shows no sign of slowing down, even though 2020 has been full of unforeseen challenges.

The global plastic packaging manufacturer has been able to stay close to its investment and progression strategy this year, with its ambitious CSR strategy underpinning its success.

An important example of RETAL’s continued growth is the official opening of its dedicated new laboratory and warehouse at its RETAL Baltic Films facility in Klaipeda, which represents a considerable €4.5 million investment, resulting in enhanced testing facilities and a new 4000 square metre warehouse.

RETAL Baltic Films General Manager, Viktorija Griziene, explained how this investment illustrates RETAL’s focus on development.

“We are delighted that our new facilities will support our ambitions to deliver complete packaging solutions for our customers. We can now offer fast, reliable, expert testing in-house, which guarantees that customers can clearly understand every element of their products from RETAL. Essentially, we can imitate the actual industrial processes that our customers use, including capping and filling, allowing us to smooth out any details that could be optimised.”

This complete packaging solution now includes a highly sophisticated validation process, thanks to the investment in the laboratory at RETAL Baltic Films, which assures guaranteed product quality stability due to the in-house equipment and technical expertise.

“Our highly experienced team can effectively utilise the new equipment to analyse the product and any changes the customer requires, including new additives, slight design changes, or new materials,” continued Ms Griziene.

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PACKAGING WITH A COMMUNITY CONSCIENCE

Working for a plastic packaging manufacturer isn't always something people want to shout about at parties, especially if they are a passionate advocate of environmental projects in their local community. But for Danielle Cycak, Supply Chain Manager at RETAL, being on the inside is the perfect way to make a real difference.

We cannot get away from the fact that plastic packaging is not having a golden time at the moment. It's an easy bogeyman across the media, from wildlife programmes to EU legislation, so it can be hard to be a plastic packaging champion without looking like you're disconnected from the zeitgeist. And of course, we all want to be responsible citizens and leave the world a better place than how we found it, so it's not like packaging professionals want to waste loads of valuable raw materials and just dispose of them in the nearest river.

Yet with plastic packaging being so easy to criticise, it also means that the reality of plastic as a packaging material is also incredibly transparent; both literally (consumer studies show a slow uptake for 'non glass like' packaging with higher recycled content, even though it's more sustainable) and metaphorically (being under the spotlight means there's nowhere to hide).

For Danielle Cycak, Supply Chain Manager for global plastic packaging manufacturer RETAL at its Donora, Pennsylvania plant, her dedication to actively supporting and participating in community-based environmental activities predates her employment with this leading company. Integrating her strong sense of responsibility towards environmental projects and her career development was a crucial aspect in her taking the job in the first place. Cycak tells Sustainable Plastics, “I've been a part of a number of community projects for years; we're so lucky to have an abundance of natural resources to explore from waterways to state parks as well as Pennsylvania being rooted in agriculture.”

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«RETAL Украина»: инновации, нацеленные в будущее

Компания «RETAL Украина» входит в состав международной группы RETAL, которая более 20 лет работает на рынке пластиковой упаковки. Инновационная активность компании направлена на достижение целей устойчивого развития.

Одно из основных направлений глобальной стратегии устойчивого развития — экологическая безопасность. Осознавая высокую значимость такого подхода, группа RETAL ежегодно реализует инновационные решения в рамках направления корпоративной социальной ответственности.

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