EXHIBITION REVIEW | K2019
Piovan’s new PET
dryer GenesysNext is a new drying system designed by Piovan specifically for processing recycled PET. Moving forward from the first generation of Genesys, GenesysNext increases the efficiency of the complete preform production process, says Piovan, as it synchronizes the drying and the injection process for a high level of quality. With Piovan’s PET- formance, intrinsic viscosity is measured through monitoring of the hydraulic injection pressure. This value is then acquired by the dryer control and, thanks to a specific algorithm covered by a pending patent, GenesysNext acts on all working parameters (Dew- Point of the process air, air flow rate and drying temperature) to keep the injection pressure stable on its set point value. The PureTech filtering system is one of the key elements of the new concept behind Genesys- Next, says Piovan. This enables dust filtration and chemical absorption of contaminants. The intensive use of recycled material makes the presence of VOCs more common and Genesys- Next is “ready to process any kind of rPET, without compromises in the quality of final product”, says the company. �
www.piovan.com
22
Tomra backs drive for better PCR quality
At the high-profile Our Ocean conference in Oslo in October, Tomra announced its commitment to enable 40% of plastic packaging produced globally each year to be collected for recycling by 2030. Stefan Ranstrand, President and CEO of the reverse vending and sorting technology group, said: “A circular economy for plastic is achievable, and there is every reason to be optimis- tic about the future, but it requires investment from industry, government and consumers.” By 2025, Tomra estimates its technology will sort more than 8m tonnes of plastic per year from waste streams at a global level. The company also estimates it will upgrade 2m tonnes of plastic to the quality of virgin material.
Meeting the demands
and targets of brand owners for using post-consumer recyclate (PCR) requires a step-change from recyclers, according to the group. “The mindset of recyclers needs to change to quality, quality, quality,” said Volker Rehrmann, Executive VP and Head of Tomra Sorting Solutions, at the K2019 fair. The group’s Circular Economy business works with the plastics recycling value chain to develop holistic solutions and enable PCR to substitute virgin plastics. This is necessary because the industry’s current focus is on down-
PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | November/December 2019
Above: Volker Rehrmann presenting to journalists at Tomra’s K2019 press event
cycling, and there is not enough potential demand in applications such as park benches, said Rehrmann. The group thinks the time is right for making the necessary investments in plastics recycling as con- sumer awareness, legisla- tion and brand owner responses have all high- lighted that demand is there. The EU’s ambitious Plastics Strategy and China’s ban on plastic waste imports are two significant changes in the market, he said. Tomra has identified two issues it can help with. The first is trying to capture plastics waste that currently gets lost. Although separate collection of plastics is happening in Europe, there is still a lot of plastics ending up in mixed waste. Even in Germany, only 50% of plastics packaging is placed in the separate collection by consumers, said Rehrmann. Tomra has been working to capture more plastics in this mixed waste through installing its sorting technol- ogy at incinerator plants.
The other big issue, he
said, is the need to upgrade PCR to replace virgin plastics in products. Tomra has been working with brand owners to show higher purity PCR plastics can be produced by focusing on sorting and hot washing, which is already working well for PET PCR. “We have proved with
partners that you can produce high quality material,” he said. Tomra is calling its
approach Advanced Plastics Recycling, and the first line is expected to start operating in January 2020. This will be a 6,000 tpa plant operated by an undisclosed recycling company to produce high quality PP PCR, with the capability of also processing HDPE, LDPE and PS. Collaboration across the value chain is also a priority for Tomra, in order to form partnerships and networks. “In Tomra’s Circular Econo- my team, we will talk to a lot of people to build a network,” said Rehrmann. �
www.tomra.com
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
PHOTO: TOMRA
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