Direct-to-Preform technology

DTP does this by making PET bottles directly from the melt that flows out of the reactor. The process is based on a technology that first surfaced in the 1970s, but to this point had never been perfected enough to succeed in the marketplace.

Zimmer is inviting members of the press to its Frankfurt headquarters for a series of presentations explaining the technology. According to Zimmer’s head of marketing and product management Anke Ruttgers, the whole idea behind the technology is to reduce costs by taking one whole step, pellet production, out of the process. She says Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. of Bolton, Ontario, Canada, is a partner in the development process. In the DTP pilot plant in Zimmer’s Frankfurt test facility, Zimmer uses a two-cavity molding system from Husky to make preforms from melt.

Beverage manufacturers, commercial blow molders, and resin producers are all targeted as potential users of the DTP technology. For more information, contact Ruttgers at a_ruettgers@zimmer-ag.de