Barton Silos Part of £10m Plastipak Investment

Barton Fabrications has completed its eighth silo installation at Plastipak Packaging (formerly APPE), the PET packaging specialist. The silo contract is part of a major £10m investment made by Plastipak in its UK preform manufacturing platform. The 100 tonne PET granule storage vessel is one of two silos installed this summer to complete the expansion of the plant that is located in Gresford.

Commenting on the silo installation Dave Harris, Plant Engineering Manager at Plastipak in the UK said:

“The site investment is one of the largest at the Gresford plant since PET preform production commenced here just over 30 years ago and confirms our position as the largest preform manufacturing plant in Europe.

Regarding the choice of vessels, Barton Fabrications have been the sole silo supplier on this site for more than 10 years and I am very happy with the company. The latest silos were supplied on a very short lead-time and all installations have been completed on time and with no problems. I am particularly impressed with the installation process with documentation including risk and method statements all provided as requested.”

All vessels installed at the plant are used to store PET granules which are moulded on-site, primarily into preform drinks bottles. PET has a high bulk density and, together with its unusual flow characteristics, can cause noise and silo damage problems during discharge prior to moulding. In order to avoid these issues, all the storage silos supplied to Plastipak have been fitted with Barton anti-honking rings.