PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2010

TRADE SHOW REVIEW 31 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 12/10 www.petpla.net DEUTSCHE EDELSTAHLWERKE, Obere Kaiserstr., D-57078 Siegen / Auestr. 4, D-58452 Witten Who knocks PET bottles into shape? CorroPlast ® – the ultimate steel for all-stainless mould sets. Recycling solutions Amut SpA’s North American business has been finding consistent demand for sustainable solutions in PET produc- tion. A leading contender for the biggest smile at the K Show 2010 was Anthony Georges, North America sales man- ager for Amut SpA, who is based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. “We have just signed a large contract, at the show, for a total bottle to bottle recycling plant,” he said. “It will have an output of 2,000kg/h for clear PET. The contract is a good sign the recession is over.” He also talked about a second washing plant to be built in the Middle East in 2011, which would follow another that is coming online in early 2011. “The Middle East offers excellent opportunities for sustainable technologies but we are finding sustainability is a key word in North America. We have seen a number of companies, from multinationals to small enterprises, grasp the idea of reducing their effect on the environment. Five years ago, hardly anyone was listening but having seen, for example, Global PET, Inc., grow from a small oper- ation to $25 million a year with a grinding business has opened the eyes of the industry in North America.” Key to acceptance is always going to be the bottom line and potential savings of 50-60% on resin prices, simply by knowing how to recycle, are going to catch the eye of anyone interested in operating profitably. “We have seen a number of installations for bottle-to-bottle recycling during September,” said Georges. “The Ice River project, for example, is produc- ing 3000kg/h of clear PET and 500kg/h of green from two wash- ing lines operating in parallel. It’s a total closed-loop solution, which is capable of producing 4 billion bottles/year.” Amut SpA will be installing a 4,000kg/h plant for Custom Polymers, Inc., in Athens, Alabama. It will come on line in late 2010/early 2011. Another plant has been installed at Global PET’s recycling plant in Perris, California. “They took delivery of a 180mm single-screw sheet line, which can produce 2000kg/hr from 100%rPET flake, which it supplies to the local thermoforming market,” Georges con- tinued. “It has also installed two FFG 980 Quad thermoform- ing machines – it is on the way to becoming the first totally in-house recycled bottle to thermoforming company west of the Mississippi.” The low environmental impact of recycled PET is clearly becoming a big benefit in the USA and other parts of the world. www.amut.it