The company recently celebrated ten years of its operations.

In an interaction with mediapersons on Sunday, Octal CEO Nicholas Barakat said that 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 US, producing 1mn tonnes of PET resin, DPET, APET and RPET sheet printed PET packages per year.

'This celebration marks a ten-year journey of bringing innovation, environmental sustainability and cutting-edge packaging solutions from Oman to the world. 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,' Barakat said.

Over the last decade, he said, the company has risen to become a global technology leader developing new applications for PET including injection-moulding, high temperature as well as frozen applications positioning it as the supplier of choice.

Barakat said Octal is putting a lot of effort and money into developing new products and technology expanding capability to deliver fished products.

'We are growing our recycling business and printed packaging business. We are investing lots of time and money in new applications such as frozen and high temperature applications. Our major focus is on food and pharmaceutical packaging and other final products. This technology is critical to increasing the penetration of PET into high volume applications.'

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.

Speaking at the event, William J Barenberg, chief operating officer and executive vice-president of Octal, said the company has identified technologies for new applications which are in the pipeline and could be commercial within 12 months.

He said, '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.'

Octal is one of the major non-oil exporters in the sultanate.

'What we have achieved so far,' Barakat said, 'is only the beginning of our legacy as there are vast opportunities and tremendous potential that can be harnessed from PET.'

He added, 'Our investment in the downstream factories in the US for recycling and in Saudi Arabia for printed packaging material enable Octal to capture the entire value chain.'