The world’s largest rigid PET sheet plant has opened in the Omani port of Salalah, says its operator Octal Petrochemicals. It is the second PET facility run by the company and has a capacity of 300,000 metric tons per annum.The principal market for the plant’s output is food packaging in Europe, the US and China. Annual sales are predicted to be $400m. And according to Octal the plant delivers enhanced energy and cost savings thanks to technical innovations in the production process.
- Our patented DPET technology uses a single-phase reactor to integrate PET resin and sheet manufacture - explained Nicholas Barakat, Octal’s managing director. - The technology bypasses the expensive PET drying and melting process of conventional clear rigid sheet manufacture, producing PET sheet with superior optical and mechanical properties and using 65% less energy.
- The new technology involves enhanced gauge control, creating additional cost savings by achieving higher yields. Our production processes also meet stringent environmental standards – we only use recycled municipal waste water and PET is 100% recyclable.
A second expansion phase will be completed in 2011, increasing PET resin capacity by 500,000 metric tons.
