INNOVATION | LABEL REMOVAL
Right: Amut’s De-Labeller DLB machine
retaining air, so the shelf life of PE-only bags is quite short. In order to protect goods all the way to the doorstep, film-makers have often resorted to adding barrier resins such as nylon or EVOH, and the tie layers these require. These barrier resins are effective, but often render the film more difficult to reclaim and recycle. Because COC is a strong nitrogen barrier, and air is 79% nitrogen, adding Topas COC to an all-PE film recipe is a simple barrier solution that enables these films to be easily reclaimed and recycled with other PE films, such as shopping bags.” In the field of label-removal technology, Italian company Amut Group has developed the De- Labeller DLB series of machines. The DLB 15 treats bottles rejected by the main NIR sorter. The machine is installed downstream of the sorter and has a capacity of 1,500 kg/h. The DLB 30 and DLB 60 versions are suitable for higher troughput rates – 3,000 kg/h and 6,000 kg/h respectively. They treat the bottles at the beginning of the washing line. According to Amut, the De-Labellers have a removal efficiency of 80-90% for all types of labels, including PVC and PETG full body sleeves. Amut has recently supplied its de-labellers as
Below: Amut supplied
washing plant and de-label- ling technology to the new CarbonLite PET bottle recycling facility in Dallas, USA
part of a washing line for the new CarbonLite recycling facility, located in Dallas, USA, which started operations in September 2017. The 250,000 ft² (23,200 m²) bottle-to-bottle PET recycling plant processes more than 100m lbs (45.4m kg) of plastic bottles annually and the Amut washing section is capable of reaching 6 tph. The Dallas facility will double the company’s annual capacity of food grade PET and produces PET resins, flakes and pellets that are used to produce new beverage bottles and other products. The company says that when dealing with co-mingled MRF bottle bales it is necessary to be able to detect and remove all non-PET and coloured PET containers prior to entering the final washing process. This is achieved through a double stage procedure. An initial Amut de-labeller
undertakes a dry cleaning action that is able to detach most of the shrink sleeve labels, while the second unit is a wet de-labeller process to pre- wash the complete bottles and reduce wear effects on the grinder blades. This wet bottle washing technology uses filtered recycled flake washing water. Therefore, it does not increase the consump- tion of fresh water used in the complete cleaning process, and contributes to the elimination of dirt on the bottle exteriors, as well as removing remaining labels on the bottles. Amut says that it is critical to the process that the
bottles stay intact through these two machines and are not damaged by the de-labellers. This improves efficiency and the functionality of the automatic sorting equipment that follow in the process, so that the non-PET and coloured PET can be more easily removed from the clear PET bottle stream. The clear PET bottles are then washed in the Amut wash-flake system. The company also supplied CarbonLite with a wet grinding system to turn bottles into flakes, along with two flake friction washers, and two sink-float separation systems, which are also able to capture polyolefin caps. The whole process is claimed to be engineered to increase the grade quality of the clear PET flakes, while minimising operational costs, fresh water usage, energy requirements and cleaning agents. Amut has also recently supplied two other large
PET recycling plants in North America – one for UNIFI in Reidsville, North Carolina and another to PetStar Coca-Cola Mexico. The Amut De-Labeller won the Plastics Recycling Innovation Award from the Association of Plastic Recyclers in 2017.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.eastman.com �
www.sunchemical.com �
www.topas.com �
www.amutgroup.com �
www.carbonliterecycling.com
38 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | March/April 2018
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
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