K2022 NEWS


Newcomer Aloxe announces ambitious rPET growth plans


Aloxe made its public debut at K and announced plans to invest €50m in PET recycling plants in France, Poland and Italy, taking its total capacity to 120,000 tonnes/year by 2024. It claims that this will make it Europe’s biggest independent rPET producer. The company was founded by


Clément Lefebvre, who was previously with Veolia, and by Arnaud Piroëlle, who joined from BASF. It is funded by US-based Ara Partners. Executive director Piroëlle explained


that recycling capacity will need to increase significantly to meet EU regulatory targets for PET beverage bottles to contain an average of at least 25% rPET by the start of 2025. “Our focus is on delivering high-quality material in high volumes,” he added.


Aloxe’s first acquisition was Loreco


Plast Recyclage in April 2021. Its plant near Nancy in France is being expand- ed from 12,500 to 50,000 tonnes/year with the installation of equipment from Erema. The new capacity is due on stream in June 2023. In August 2022, Aloxe acquired


Elcen, based in Gdynia in Poland. It has capacities of 5,500 tonnes/year for flakes for bottle applications and 4,800 tonnes/year for fibres and geotextiles. The plan is to open a new plant near Torun in central Poland in the first quarter of 2024. It will also use Erema recycling equipment and will have an extrusion capacity of 40,000 tonnes/ year. The most recent acquisition is the rPET division of mineral water com-


pany Ferrarelle, which was purchased in October 2022 and is located north of Naples in Italy. Its current capacity is 15,000 tonnes/year, but the plan is to double this to 30,000 tonnes/year by the first quarter of 2024 using machin- ery from Starlinger. Aloxe is primarily targeting packag- ing applications, offering its Origo rPET pellets in clear, light blue and green grades for food-contact applications, including preforms and thermoform- ing. These are currently produced at its French plant, while clear and blue rPET flakes are produced in Poland. Piroëlle said he expects around 60%


of Aloxe’s rPET to be used in bottles, 30% in thermoforming applications, and 10% in other packaging markets. � www.aloxe.one


SI Group enters into recycling


SI Group launched a new range of additives for recycling under the brand name EverCycle, which is said to have been created with a view to building industry collaborations with plastics recyclers, machinery companies and polymer producers. The move underlines a significant transformation in the SI Group business over the past three years, according to Robert Kaiser, VP Polymer Solutions and MD for the EMEA region. This has included invest- ments in expanding antioxidant production at various global sites, in particular production of its Weston 705 phosphite antioxidants, but is also forward-looking.


16


and colour control and reduce acetaldehyde levels. The EverCycle PET-102D and PET-103D grades are intended for use with PET bottles, trays, and fibres; PET-102D is available as a pellet and PET-103D as a liquid. Two additives for


“Innovation should not be limited to what we already have but also connected with the future and sustainability,” he said at the show. The first products in the


EverCycle family include two additives for PET recycling and converting, which are claimed to enhance process stability


PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | November/December 2022


polyolefin recycling offer process stabilisation and performance enhancement while enabling increased recycled content. EverCycle PP-101S has been devel- oped for stabilisation in HDPE and PP rigid packag- ing; LD-101S is intended for stabilisation in LDPE flexible packaging. EverCycle LD-104P targets issues such as gel formation in films that creates weak spots. � https://siigroup.com


PCF data for BASF


additives BASF announced Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data for a number of its additives. First PCF data has been made available for several antioxidants and light stabilisers in its Irganox, Tinuvin and Chimassorb additive ranges. BASF Plastic Additives Sustainability Specialist Marina Leed highlighted the company’s Valeras platform, which brings together additives and services that have sustainability benefits, and its new IrgaCycle range of additives for mechanically recycled plastics. � www.basf.com


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


I


M


A


G


E


:


S I


G


R


O


U


P


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50