The new company will take the plasma technology to other plastics

SIG Corpoplast and Schott have founded a joint venture company to develop their Plasmax barrier coating technology for PET bottles.

Schott SIG Barrier Technologies will develop and manufacture coating modules for beverage filling machines from headquarters in Mainz, Germany. Each company will hold a 50% share. The company expects to create approximately 50 new jobs in Mainz. It will also diversify into coatings for plastics other than PET.

Schott chairman Dr Udo Ungeheuer said: “Over the next three years, the revenue we achieve with coating modules will triple and make up a high double-digit million euro figure.” SIG Corpoplast will have exclusive marketing rights and after-sales service responsibility for coating modules made in Mainz.

Plasmax machines have already been installed at Japan’s Hokkai Can and the Bischofszell food plant in Switzerland.