Octal produces 1m tonnes of packaging materials per year
From a single polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin and sheet production plant in Salalah in 2006, the company has grown to a four plant operation in Oman, Saudi Arabia and the USA, with a workforce of more than 600 people.
MUSCAT: Octal, the world’s leading clear rigid packaging material supplier, said that it produces one million tonnes of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin and few other packaging materials per annum.
Other packaging materials produced by Octal are DPET (new benchmark for packaging the world’s first green plastic sheet), Amorphous Polyethylene Terephalate (APET), Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (RPET) sheet and printed PET packages.
From a single PET resin and sheet production plant in Salalah in 2006, the company has grown to a four plant operation in Oman, Saudi Arabia and the USA, with a workforce of more than 600 people. This has cemented the company’s international reputation as an export powerhouse of high quality, technologically advanced and environmentally friendly packaging materials with the lowest carbon footprint in 75 countries.
Diverse packaging
Octal celebrated ten years of successfully driving wholesale conversion of diverse packaging lines to PET with Oman-made proprietary ‘DPET’ that serve the growing demand of Fortune 500 companies.
“This celebration marks a 10 year journey of bringing innovation, environmental sustainability and cutting-edge packaging solutions from Oman to the world,” said Octal CEO, Nicholas Barakat.
“Octal was conceived from the idea that the sustained growth of clear rigid packaging requires a strategic investment in capacity, proprietary technology and innovation. Our knowledge-based approach has enabled us to become the unanimous choice for reliable, clear rigid packaging with a wide range of applications for foods, liquids, consumer and industrial products,” he added.
Over the last decade, Octal has risen to become a global technology leader developing new applications for PET, including injectionmolding, high temperature as well as frozen applications and positioning it as the supplier of choice. This technology is critical to increasing the penetration of PET into high volume applications. The company’s unique PET resin and patented DPET sheet have gained critical acclaim for their superior mechanical and optical properties, while delivering the lowest carbon footprint compared to other PET sheet and the polymers for which DPET substitutes.
Customer portfolio
To date, Octal’s customer portfolio includes some of the largest brands in the region and the world such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Almarai, Nestlé and Lulu among many others, which represent a wide array of product end-uses.
“Octal’s story of market success is about changing the equation for delivering value downstream, employing disruptive technologies that redefine PET’s capabilities, expanding the universe of applications for which it is the preferred packaging polymer. We only enter markets and businesses where we have a competitive advantage to ensure success driven by technology and product performance. As a result, Octal’s DPET has led the way in the wholesale conversion of entire product categories from other polymers to PET. With our ongoing product innovations, we will continue this trend, targeting large scale conversion opportunities with new performance features,” added William J. Barenberg, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Octal.
“We have utilised innovation in material science to create a clear competitive advantage, setting the standard in PET packaging with high quality products that deliver yield and cost reduction benefits, increased productivity for thermoformers, and unmatched environmental advantages. This has translated to higher volumes, enhanced margins and expanded market applications by large multinational brands. We will contin- ue to develop solutions for a world that demands greater performance from its packaging, earning profits for our partners who transform it and improving life for consumers who use it,” added Barenberg. Octal has significantly contributed to the Sultanate’s economic non-oil exports.
The company also focuses on training many promising Omani professionals, with a number of staff posted to Octal’s other facilities around the world to gain international exposure.
“What we have achieved so far is only the beginning of our legacy as there are vast opportunities and tremendous potential that can be harnessed from PET. Our investment in the downstream factories in the USA for recycling and Saudi Arabia for printed packaging material enable Octal to capture the entire value chain. Our ambitions are limitless and with the continued support of our employees, partners, customers and wider stakeholders, we are confident that we will make our shared vision a tangible reality,” added Barkat.