Pet/r-pet: bright, ecological, shatterproof
Our PET products
Thanks to its versatility , handiness and safe use, PET cup proves to be the best the market can offer in terms of quality (transparency and brightness), safety (shatterproofness and atoxicity) and eco compatibility. ARISTEA technical staff succeeded , the first in Italy, in developing a high quality PET cups and bowls range, highly transparent and unbreakable. An important characteristic of our PET cups is the perfect rim formation, which is round, pleasant to the touch and safer in the use, for example, than the PS Kristal cups, antagonist of PET for their brightness . ARISTEA PET cups are exclusively made of virgin PET; they undergo lab tests that certify their suitability to food contact for protracted periods, for all types of food covered by Domestic and European regulations, also at a heat reaching 70°c for 2 hours and at cold for long conservation times.
Advantages in the use of PET cups
Compared to the use of other polymers, the production of PET cups shows some advantages both from the technological and from the ecological point of view, given its recyclability. In particular, to be remarked, are the technological advantages against rival products currently in the market, such as PS Kristal, known as Kristal, and PP cups:
- The fist show an exceptional transparency, at the expenses of a high fragility, which does not allow edging, with a rim less pleasant to the touch (rough and sharp); this fragility can became dangerous, in case they break, because of cutting parts; a limit this, if they are used in crowded public places, such as schools, pubs, bars and discos.
- The second show, instead, characteristics of high shatterproofness but with a poor brightness and significant opacity.
In short, PET products are the best compromise between transparency and safety that today's technology of materials and process can offer to the market of plastic disposable intended to food contact, and in some cases, like Aristea cups and bowls, can even reach peaks of excellence.
Technical notes about PET polymer
PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is a plastic, light, colorless and particularly transparent material. This material is indicated to all those industrial applications where a high resistance is required. Pet can resist to temperatures ranging between -40° and +150°. After its processing, we obtain hard and lucid surfaces with very good mechanical properties, low water absorption, good chemical resistance and low coefficient of linear dilatation. It is considered a very good barrier against the penetration of humidity and gaseous substances; it also resists well to crashes. For this reason it is used for bottling mineral water. In fact, it perfectly resists to atmospheric agents, to jerks and cuts, to discoloration caused by UV rays, to acids, hydrocarbons and abrasions. The use of the recycled polymer (known as R-PET) has generated an increasing interest worldwide, thanks to its very good qualities, to its high recyclability , virtually permitting an unlimited re-usage because of its big use into PET bottles. The EC 282/2008 Regulation ratifies suitability of recycled post-use PET to be used in food packaging. Nowadays it is also available a quality brand "Plastica seconda vita – PSV"- second life plastic -, kept by 'Istituto per la Promozione della Plastica da Riciclo (IPPR)- Institute for the promotion of recycled plastic-.
PET Suitable for food contact
The compatibility of PET to food contact (like all plastic materials ) is ratified by EU Regulations 1935/2004/EC and 10/2011/EC on the point of packaging for food contact. PET almost entirely dominates the market of mineral waters and beverages in general, and it is more and more paving its way to fruit juices and begins to be also used in the beer sector and other foodstuffs (oil, vinegar etc)
How to recognize it
Artifacts in PET bear the following symbol:
Symbol associated to PET under the classification Suitability of PET to food contact
