'Breakthrough' barrier technology sees APPE target new applications

APPE marketing manager Kinza Sutton told Ben Bouckley how the technology worked - it was launched at the start of October for juice applications - where it has been designed to protect such products against oxygen ingress and vitamin C loss.​

And Sutton revealed: "At the moment we're developing a solution for wine bottles. Wine is an oxygen-sensitive beverage, so we believe this would be a very effective solution for wine...that will be released next year in 2012. In 2013 we're already developing the application for food."​

The system works via a combination of the bottle and closure, with a small amount of the ActivSeal catalyst is present in the container wall, while a hydrogen activator is built into the closure.

Once the container is full and the closure applied, there is a controlled release of hydrogen within the container. Then, as oxygen enters through the container wall, it binds with the hydrogen to form a small amount of odourless and tasteless water, thus protecting the product.

Advantages claimed by APPE for ActivSeal containers include full recyclability and (since they do not use nylon-based barriers that give a haze to bottle walls) the same good clarity as non-barrier polyethylene terephtalate (PET) bottles, as well as a comparable or better shelf life than current barriers.

"The end result is that the ActivSeal barrier system gives perfectly clear bottles, it has no negative impact on the PET bottle recycling stream, and you have very effective shelf life performance," ​Sutton said.

As a division of Spanish company La Seda de Barcelona (LSB), APPE produces PET pre-forms, bottles and containers and developed the ActivSeal technology in tandem with ColorMatrix and KTW/Husky. It holds an exclusive license to sell the technology.