PPG, Bairocade Coatings Consortium Honored for Work With Plastic Recyclers
23 March 2000
PPG, Bairocade Coatings Consortium Honored for Work With Plastic Recyclers
PITTSBURGH--March 23, 2000--PPG Industries and a consortium of packaging manufacturers for the commercial development of Bairocade gas barrier coatings have been recognized by the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers for their participation in a program to test new bottle compositions with plastic recyclers.Developed and manufactured by PPG Industries, Bairocade coatings are applied to the exterior of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, significantly extending the shelf life and freshness of consumer food products.
Amcor PET Packaging, Constar, Graham Packaging and PPG received the APR's Partners for Change Award. The honor is part of the Champions for Change program, which promotes cooperative testing among consumer product companies, suppliers, converters and others so that recycling of plastic materials keeps pace with new packaging technologies.
PPG and the consortium members engaged in extensive testing and commercial-scale trials that they said showed PET treated with Bairocade coatings can be recycled into fiber, strapping, sheet and even single-layer PET food and beverage containers. That is possible because the coating is removed from the PET during the grind-and-wash phases typical of most recycling plants.
"It's very gratifying that the time and effort PPG and the consortium have invested in determining the recyclability of Bairocade coatings have been recognized by such an important organization," said John Lewis, marketing specialist in PPG's packaging coatings business unit. "From the very beginning, we at PPG have known just how important recycling is in the packaging industry. With the help of Amcor, Constar and Graham, we've proven Bairocade coatings can be successfully processed through existing recycling systems."
Bairocade coatings have been applied to more than one billion bottles during the past six years -- from carbonated soft drinks in the Middle East, to beer in Australia, to juice in the United States.
The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers is a trade association representing companies that acquire, reprocess and sell the output of more than 90 percent of the post-consumer plastic processing capacity in North America.
PPG Industries, with headquarters in Pittsburgh, is one of the world's largest coatings manufacturers, serving the packaging, automotive, auto refinish, industrial and aerospace industries. In addition, PPG is a leading global supplier of continuous-strand fiber glass, flat and fabricated glass, and chemicals, as well as a major North American supplier of architectural coatings. Sales exceeded US$7.7 billion in 1999, including coatings sales of nearly US$4.1 billion.
Internet: www.ppg.com