Partnership to increase consumption of plastic films
Gazeta Mercantil - 07/29/2008
Notwithstanding what is inside, if the package is plastic it is probably made of bioriented polypropylene, commonly known by the acronym BOPP, a thin, high-resistant plastic film that is more and more used to pack a countless number of products, from candy boxes to cigarette packs. It is so versatile - it may even look like paper - that this market already sell more than 130 thousand tons and it grows, on average, 10% a year. Its thin thickness, which combines high transparency and resistance, works as a barrier, both to increase the useful life of the products and to improve the quality of impression of labels and packings. This way, it allows a countless number of uses with lesser use of raw material. In other words, it reduces the final waste, because it weighs less. But the most important quality is the increase of the validity of foods allowed by the high resistance of the plastic that prevents the entrance of oxygen, humidity etc. Foods, in fact, are responsible for nearly 70% of the total consumption of this product in the market. It is not for no reason that companies like Vitopel and Polo Films, from Unigel Química have already announced significant investments to increase the production. Polo invested R$ 100 million (US$ 62.5 million) in the setting up of the third line of bioriented polypropylene film in its plant in Montenegro (RS), near the petrochemical pole of Triunfo (RS), increasing its capacity in 50%. Vitopel, on its turn, whose market share reaches 55% of Brazilian market and 60% of Argentine's, will spend US$ 55 million in the next two years in the setting up of a new plant that must be installed in the interior of São Paulo, in one of its two units (Mauá or Votorantim). Even Videolar, traditional manufacturer of recorded and virgin media, has decided to diversify the area of operation and invest US$ 100 million in the construction of a bioriented polypropylene plant. The new unit may go into operation in the second half of 2009 and will have capacity to produce 75 thousand tons. With all such interest, manufacturers are already getting themselves together in the Brazilian Association for Flexible Film (Abrafilme) to elaborate a campaign, budgeted for US$ 4 million, with the purpose of spreading out, among the industries, the countless uses of BOPP, besides emphasizing standardization concepts and standards for products.