The Draft Packaging List to be Prohibited, recently published by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, cannot contribute to the sustainability and development of the domestic beverage industry. On the contrary, the situation is exactly the opposite. The Draft List includes 5 packaging items that will be banned as of 2024. These include translucent and opaque PET bottles for the food industry in all colors except blue, green and brown.
Exception colors were also included in the previous edition of the draft list including black color. In this context, a big question arises: why is it proposed to ban black color, provided that there are no problems with the classification and recycling of such packaging?
No problem
The industry’s planned production volume of soft drinks in black PET bottles in 2024 is approximately 470 million units. products. This amount of raw materials can cover the full load of 11.3 processing lines annually.
Moreover, in accordance with TU 2298-014-01877509-00 “Recycled polymer raw materials, unprocessed”, black bottles are included in the same color group for classification with brown PET bottles, which are already included in the list of exceptions in the draft. List of Prohibitions.
Black bottles can be separated and recycled separately or together with a brown bottle, and the resulting recyclable materials can be used in many sectors. They can be used to produce a wide range of products that do not require high specifications in terms of transparency and/or color purity. For example, for the production of electrical insulation materials; polyester for building materials; drainage systems; automotive components; engineering structures; containers for storage and transportation; PET tapes; polymer resins for polymer concrete, tiles and much more.
The need to impose a ban on black PET bottles has not been confirmed by the scientific community, in particular, in research studies conducted to evaluate the packaging list for the ban on the basis of the Moscow State University and Institute of Food Production. It was named Economic Policy. Yegor Gaidar.
There is a need
Domestic soft drink manufacturers use black PET bottles to bottle their tonic drinks. And this is not a whim, but a technological necessity.
Black packaging provides higher protection from ultraviolet rays compared to packaging of the same brown color for carbonated soft drinks and energy (tonic) drinks due to the scientifically proven physical properties of the black pigment, which has maximum absorption among other pigments. ultraviolet rays against the background of minimal indicators of their transmission.
And this feature is extremely important for non-alcoholic carbonated, energy (tonic) drinks, which require increased protection from ultraviolet rays due to the properties of their composition (especially the presence of vitamins, caffeine, taurine, etc.). It is different from beer, where the protective capacity of the brown bottle is sufficient.
Maximum preservation of non-alcoholic carbonated, energy (tonic) drinks is necessary to prevent oxidation and destruction of components in order to preserve the balanced effect, functional properties and organoleptic properties of the product throughout its entire shelf life. .
This function of the black PET bottle is confirmed by the results of the research study on “Comprehensive assessment of the feasibility and socio-economic consequences of limiting the use of certain types of disposable polymer packaging”, conducted by the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution. Welding taste tests of Higher Education “ROSBIOTECH” and production facilities.
Moreover, according to ROSBIOTECH and industry experts, the ban on the use of black PET bottles will lead to a decrease in the functional properties of non-alcoholic energy (tonic) drinks and a partial loss of their organoleptic properties, resulting in the need to revise their recipes and reduce the shelf life of the product. This would require unreasonably significant costs for the business. This will affect both the business itself along the entire chain (from raw material suppliers, container and label manufacturers, product manufacturers to wholesale and retail links) and the end buyer.
And if these operating costs turn out to be too high, then there is a risk that the business will refuse to produce products of this category. In this case, the loss will be not only for business and consumers, but also for the state budget, which will lose VAT in the amount of about 2.7 billion rubles. per year, according to industry experts.
This creates a strange situation: There is no problem with sufficient quantities of raw materials for separation and processing. The industry definitely has a legitimate need for the use of black PET bottles. However, black PET bottles will be banned. Rhetorical question – why and why?