Industry Associations, Partnerships and Memberships
Maintaining and raising standards
High standards are important when you help package beverages enjoyed by millions of consumers around the world every day. This includes food safety and also strong ethics, good corporate governance and the right environmental and sustainability approach. These are fundamental parts of our culture and built into our daily working practices at Sidel.
European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group
Sidel is a member of the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG). The group is a consortium of equipment manufacturers, food industries, research institutes as well as public health authorities. It was founded in 1989 with the aim to promote hygiene during the processing and packing of food products. The principal goal of EHEDG is the promotion of safe food by improving hygienic engineering and design in all aspects of food manufacture. EHEDG actively supports European legislation, which requires that handling, preparation processing and packaging of food is done hygienically using hygienic machinery and in hygienic premises (EC Directive 2006/42/EC for Machinery, EN 1672-2 and EN ISO 14159 Hygiene requirement).
The EHEDG mission is defined as: "EHEDG enables safe food production by providing guidance as an authority on hygienic engineering and design for food manufactured in or imported into Europe" (as agreed by the EHEDG Executive Committee in its strategy discussion 2012).
Association of the Beverage Machinery Industry
Sidel is a founding member of the Association of the Beverage Machinery Industry (ABMI). The association is composed of global manufacturers of beverage machinery. The purpose of this association is to provide an exchange point for communication and cooperation within the manufacturing industry in the areas of quality, security, elaboration of recommendations etc. This will benefit the whole industry and the end consumers.
In essence, the Association's purpose is: the promotion of higher quality standards; the promotion of security and safety at the workplace; the promotion of development and improvement of ecological material and production methods; the cooperation with standardization authorities; the cooperation with scientific research institutions and the assistance to science and research in the field of the beverage packaging industry for the benefit of consumers and the environment; the increased accessibility to safe beverages by more consumers worldwide.
International Technical Center for Bottling and related Packaging
Sidel is a member of the International Technical Center for Bottling and related Packaging (known by its French acronym 'Cetie') - an inter-professional organisation at the service of the bottling industry. It brings together producers of packaging and materials, users (including bottlers and distributors), equipment manufacturers, and national and international professional organizations with the target to create reference documents, ensuring consistent quality levels of bottled products. Cetie documents are recognised in the sector as reference works. The organisation participates in standardization via the CEN Technical Committee TC 261 and TC 261/SC5/WG25 (Rigid plastic packaging). Cetie documents can be proposed directly as draft CEN / ISO standards.
International Society of Beverage Technologists
Sidel is a member of the International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT) - the world's leading organization of professionals and students, who engage in the technical and scientific aspects of soft drinks and beverages. The ISBT (formerly SSDT) was founded in 1953 and now consists of over 1,000 members worldwide. The target is to enhance the promotion, development and dissemination of knowledge relating to the art and science of beverage technology for the non-alcoholic beverage industry. Focus areas of activity include beverage formulation, production, packaging, equipment and distribution. ISBT does this by providing forums for scholarly discussion, stimulating the application of science in the industry, publishing "voluntary" technical standards and guidelines and encouraging and fostering research.
French Plastic and Flexible Packaging Association
Sidel is a member of the French Plastic and Flexible Packaging Association (known by its French acronym 'Elipso'), a forum for information, thought and tangible action for the plastic and flexible packaging industry. With more than 130 member companies, Elipso represents 70-90% of the French market by turnover, depending on the sector. At a European level, Elipso is an active member of the European Plastic Converters and Flexible Packaging Europe associations.