PET RECYCLING | TECHNOLOGY
Suppliers of PET recycling technologies showcased new systems at the K2022 show in
October.Peter Mapleston reports on developments in the competitive sector
New rPET machinery developments at K2022
High demand for post-consumer PET recycling lines – waiting times are anywhere from 12 months to almost two years, with one supplier even said to be taking bids on its equipment – is a sure sign of the need in the food and drink sector to put more rPET into packaging. European Union legislation requires that by 2025, all new PET bottles should contain at least 25% recyclate, with the figure rising to 30% by 2030. Whether or not recycling plant operators will be able to obtain the necessary feedstock, at a price they can afford, is an open question. But at least if they can find it, technologies for turning post-con- sumer waste into material fit for new food-contact applications are improving all the time. There were several interesting new developments on display at the K2022 exhibition in Düsseldorf in October. Starlinger Recycling Technology is a good
example, with its new RecoStar PET Art bottle-to- bottle recycling system. Here, it has combined the usual two drying units with the residence time of around one hour each into one larger unit with the residence time of two hours. The advantage is that the vacuum unit used on the previous version has gone, reducing energy consumption and mainte-
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nance requirements. The RecoStar PET Art saves about 21% production costs. Energy consumption is down by 25% compared to the previous model, and it requires 46% less maintenance time. Output capacity is up by 15%, says Paul Niedl, Commercial Head of Starlinger Recycling Technology. Viscotec, a sister company in the Starlinger
group, makes solid state polycondensation (SSP) systems for decontamination to a level required for food contact packaging, and its range includes systems designed for lifting intrinsic viscosity (IV) of rPET. Its new ViscoZero melt phase decontamina- tion reactor is designed for the production of food grade recycled polyolefin and polystyrene resins, plus food-grade and IV-increased recycled PET. Viscotec says: “When recycling PET waste, food- grade rPET pellets are produced in just a few minutes. Both the increase of the intrinsic viscosity and the decontamination of the material is done incredibly fast. It is a cost-effective way to produce pellets for end products made of high-viscosity PET, such as strapping tapes or fibres.” New systems from Erema can yield important
energy savings, according to Managing Director Michael Heitzinger. He says the company’s philoso-
November/December 2022 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 19
Main image: NGR’s stand at the K2022 exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany in October
IMAGE: D ELDRIDGE
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