Ceepackaging

Products

Rexam to sell PET facilities in CEE

International packaging group Rexam will look to sell its PET bottle facilities in Central and Eastern Europe as part of its plans to focus on more globally recognised products like plastic food packaging.

The company has announced that it will sell its Rexam Petainer unit - which operates in both the Czech Republic and Sweden, as it looks to phase out production of PET reusable bottles.

Speaking to CEE-Foodindustry.com Rexam’s Head of Communications, Jonathan Thornton explained that PET refillable bottles were a very regional market restricted mainly to Scandanavia and Germany.

“In Scandanavia these type of bottles are returned to producers to be re-used, however this technique is only available in a few countries. With the company looking to increase its focus on global markets, the decision has been taken to sell these, are only PET prodcution facilities,” he explained.

PET bottles, which are produced with the compound polyethylene terephthalate, offer a fully recyclable, durable form of packaging and are becoming increasingly popular amongst packagers and soft drinks firms to use with their products.

Like glass, it is a transparent product without any taste or odour of its own – though it is also much lighter.

The announcement comes after Rexam announced it had sold a number of its European food plastic operations in Yate in the UK, Lidkoping in Sweden and Stilling in Denmark.

It is thought that the company will look to increase its share of high-barrier containers of which it already holds 50 per cent of the market in the US. The company said that it will use its plant at Deeside in the UK to supply European demand.

While the company is already thought to be looking for buyers, Thornton stressed that talks regarding a deal to purchase Rexam Petainer are still at a very early stage.