INNOVATION | FILM
plastic products and demanding recycled content in plastic packaging, recycling is becoming an increas- ingly important topic for the plastics film industry. Starlinger says: “Legislative measures by governments as well as directives by various industry associations reflect the trend towards more sustainability in the plastics sector – be it the UK Plastic Packaging Tax which proposes a £200 fee per tonne for packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic (coming into effect on 1 April 2022), or targets set by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation calling for a minimum of 20% recycled content in plastic packaging by 2025, among others. Governments, corporations, businesses, as well as educational and scientific entities have joined the Plastics Pact Network, a globally aligned network of local stakeholders initiated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to implement solutions towards a circular economy for plastic. The transformation towards more sustainable plastics is on its way, and many film and sheet producers have already started to adapt production to future standards.” The technology used by recyclers and flexible
packaging producers needs to be flexible to be able to process different and varying input streams, but also due to unpredictable future develop- ments, says Starlinger, which offers technology covering a range of needs. It says: “With existing and upcoming legislative
measures and industry directives, film recycling is no longer only a matter of saving costs or raw materials. It is a significant contribution to more sustainability in the plastics industry and an important step towards a circular economy in the packaging sector.” Film extrusion and recycling technology company Polystar, based in Taiwan, says there is strong demand coming from film extruders and converters incorporating more post-industrial and post-consumer recyclate in their products. It says: “New regulations in many countries now
require producers to use a higher percentage of recycled content in flexible and rigid packaging products. Instability of raw material prices and supplies also forces plastic producers to better recycle their own production waste.” The growing demand is reflected in the machine sales for Polystar. By the end of April 2022, a total of over 110 recycling machines will have been shipped by the company over a 12 month period, which is twice as many as in the previous year. Polystar says plastic recycling machines are
getting bigger. “Recyclers are now buying larger- capacity machines and more machines. The
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
800-1,000 kg/hour pelletising extruders have become a standard for post-consumer and even some post-industrial recyclers,” it says. In December 2021, a recycling company in
Kanagawa, Japan, placed an order with Polystar for four 800-1,000 kg/hour machines. The company says that in the same month, several recyclers in Australia, Colombia, Mexico, Russia and the US placed repeat orders for higher-capacity machines to be able to comply with the increasing recycling demand of washed PE film and bottle waste. In India, the requirement for more advanced
recycling machines is rising, especially for PP raffia, woven bags and FIBC producers which need to process their internal waste, says the company. So far, Polystar says 75 Repro-One recycling machines have been installed in this sector in India. In the film and flexible packaging sector, recent
installations of Polystar’s Repro-Flex recycling machine (which is a cutter-compactor integrated model designed for recycling film waste) have been in Denmark, Italy and Switzerland. These lines are equipped with smart features to minimise energy consumption and the need for operator intervention. Polystar says that, despite challenges such as high shipping costs and shortages in the supply chain, “Our manufacturing facility in Taiwan, Sinji industrial park, continues to operate at 100% during this time, making sure our customers receive the recycling machines within a very short time. The delivery time for standard recycling machines such as Repro-Flex 85, Repro-One and Repro-Air is only 30-45 days. The major Ceflex collaboration among Euro-
pean producers, users and recyclers of flexible packaging has been making good progress. Talking about 2021 in a newsletter to Ceflex’s 180+ consortium members in December, Graham Houlder, Project Coordinator, said: “This year marked a definitive shift from designing a circular
January/February 2022 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 45
Above: Post-consumer film recycling line from Polystar
IMAGE: POLYSTAR
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