TECHNOLOGY | MACHINERY
Right: Visitors at Erema’s Edvanced Recycling Days in Ansfelden, Austria, in June
across the plastics value chain. Group CEO Manfred Hackl emphasised that increasing recy- cled content is not just about volume, but about reliability. Stable quality, clearly specified material properties and a consistent supply of recyclates are essential to achieve this, he said. Clemens Kitzberger, Business Development Manager Post Consumer Recycling, focused on technologies that help closed-loop recycling. PCR material needs to meet clearly defined and increasingly demanding quality standards. He indicated the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) can be seen not just as a regulatory framework, but also as an opportunity to drive quality and open new application fields. Live technology demonstrations at the Erema event included: supermarket film recycling with Intarema TVEplus DuaFil Compact; HDPE regrind recycling with Volex high-performance degassing; PP regrind recycling and compounding with Corema technology; processing highly contami- nated input material as a feedstock for chemical recycling using Agglorema.
Below: Unipack modernised its polyester strap- ping tape production line with a Gneuss Omni extrusion system
Adding to capacity Finnish recycling company Syklo is expanding capacity at its new Circular Economy Hub in Hyvinkää with three new extrusion lines supplied by Leistritz capable of processing mixed PCR plastics. The Nuremberg-based compounding technology specialist is supplying three cascade extrusion lines that significantly increase the efficiency of recycling HDPE, LDPE and PP from PCR waste streams, boosting Syklo’s recycling capacity in Finland by up to 50%. At the heart of each line is the Leistritz ZSE twin-screw extruder with Maxx technology in combination with NGR’s C-Gran cutter-compacter-extruder solution, which enables the recycled material to be melted and homogenized before being compounded.
“With the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste
Regulation coming into force, the requirements for plastic packaging are rising significantly, from mandatory recycled content to extended producer responsibility and stricter material specifications,” said Teemu Koskela, CEO of Syklo. “For us, this means that recycling must become more efficient, more precise and even more sustainable. At the same time, recycled products must meet substan- tially higher quality demands. Thanks to Leistritz’s innovative twin-screw technology and decades of expertise, we can now reliably meet these chal- lenges.”
Another company that made pre-emptive plans for the new PPWR regulations is Hungarian thermo- forming specialist Kurucsai Plastic, which has been producing food-grade rPET on a Gneuss MRS extrusion line since the beginning of 2025. The company initially produced thermoformed packag- ing for its own fruit and vegetable products, but today it supplies customers throughout the food industry. As production capacities continued to expand the company gradually converted its sheet production from PP to PET, the transition driven by increasing requirements for recyclable packaging and the growing use of recycled content. At the same time, the company aims to become less dependent on raw material availability by being able to process a wider range of PET feedstocks.
Making a switch The switch, however, introduced a major process- ing challenge. PET is hygroscopic and readily absorbs moisture from the surrounding environ- ment. In conventional extrusion processes, it must therefore be dried before processing to ensure consistently high sheet quality, particularly when recycled material is being used. The company therefore looked for an extrusion solution capable
12 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | October 2026
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
IMAGE: GNEUSS
IMAGE: EREMA
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