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Dec 25, 2023

REPI

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REPI is a leading manufacturer of liquid colours and additives for plastics and polyurethanes. The company specialises in many different applications, with a strong focus on the packaging industry.

REPI is a leading manufacturer of liquid colours and additives for plastics and polyurethanes. The company specialises in many different applications, with a strong focus on the packaging industry.

REPI develops and supplies custom-made formulations to colour PET preforms, closures, HDPE and PP containers, extruded PET sheets for thermoforming, and extrusion blow moulding (EBM) containers for the food and beverage industries.

The company offers special additives to improve recyclability of raw materials and enhance the performance of PET products. Additives also help improve the aesthetics of packaging and allow energy saving during production processes.

REPI's liquid technology provides excellent dispersion and highly sustainable colour strength. Our dyes and pigments are blended with liquid carriers to create rapidly diffusing pastes that mix homogenously into the plastics they are colouring, even at very low dosages.

The colour change is quick and generates less scrap than a solid masterbatch as colours are dosed below the hopper. There is no limit to the development of shades and special effects.

Colours and additives can be formulated together to obtain a unique formulation.

An internal case-study has proven that a liquid colour or additive has a lower carbon footprint than solid granules. This is verifiable in each step of the production process, starting from the limited volume of raw materials used to produce 1kg of liquid formulation.

The energy consumption to disperse and then refine the different formulations is lower as no high temperatures are needed. The finished liquid colour or additive has high colouring power and density, meaning that a very limited amount is enough to colour what a solid granule can achieve with more than 20 times the quantity.

The benefits also apply in the customer's production, where the liquid colour is dosed through a portable dosing unit without the need for extra steps to prepare the colour or line before use. Cleaning processes are quicker and therefore free up production time.

REPI offers specialty additives to help recyclability, improving R-PET performance and its aesthetics.

REPI's Anti Yellow additives range acts on the Lab values of R-PET in order to get as close as possible to a virgin looking PET. Different formulations are created in order to treat the incoming material case by case and homogenise their aesthetics.

Optical Brighteners enhance the whiteness of the final product, especially in case of R-PET or of high-load of TiO2 for some applications (such as milk and yoghurt containers).

The IV Enhancer acts, instead of the mechanical properties, extending the molecular chain of R-PET and therefore its Intrinsic viscosity.

The company also manufactures other performance improving additives:

REPI's UV absorbers preserve colour and organoleptic properties of light-sensitive beverages and food. These additives come normally also blended with colours.

The acetaldehyde reducer SenzAA™ prevents the release of acetaldehydes during PET processing, responsible for the off-taste of mineral water.

In order to dose liquid colours and additives efficiently, dedicated dosing units have been developed by REPI. The U2011 is state-of-the-art ancillary equipment that provides extreme dosing precision and total control during the production process.

REPI's Light Meter completes the range of equipment. This analysis instrument measures all opaque, semi-transparent and transparent preforms in standard sizes and XL (Kegs) by reading the colour consistency in the preforms, directly in production. It can be operated easily with minimal training.

Sea Vision Group has launched its latest technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) for optimised packaging solutions.

If we were to choose the current catchphrase of the plastic industry, this would be 'circular economy'.