Over the past several years the PET industry has undergone consolidation and reconfiguration. Factors which brought this about this transition include lightweighting and reduced resin consumption for bottled water packaging and increasing maturity in markets such as carbonated soft drinks. As the economy continues to emerge from the longest-running downturn since the Great Depression, weak consumer spending persists.

Despite this “doom and gloom” background, there are pockets of opportunity available for PET industry stakeholders to pursue. These include the rapidly emerging markets for biobased PET, thermoformed PET containers, long shelf life wide mouth food containers to replace glass, and the still mostly untapped market for blow-fill aseptic/ESL products in North America. Of course, with each of these opportunities there are challenges that must be surmounted for success.

The extent to which biobased PET containers impact the mainstream PET market will depends on its cost. The key element is the cost of the starting point material (biomass) and success in developing a cost-effective route to PET precursor PTA.

Recycling of thermoformed PET clamshells with pressure sensitive paper labels has been problematic because the adhesive tends to adhere to the PET flake being recycled, thereby contaminating the PET recycle stream.

The cost/performance of wide mouth multilayer plastic food jars offering a two year shelf life will determine its penetration of remaining glass markets. The key is process optimization and material cost reduction.

Legal issues have impeded the expansion of low acid aseptic/ESL blow-fill in the U.S. market.

The objective of the NOVA-PACK 2012 Conference on PET Containers for Food & Beverages is to help packaging suppliers and users develop effective work-arounds to these challenges in order to move the industry forward. The 1½ day conference will take place on June 7-8 at the Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, USA, conveniently located only minutes from Washington, DC.