PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2011

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 14 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 03/11 www.petpla.net Frédéric Blanchard, Plant Director APPE Beaune The system is running at 3t/h. Our goal is to set a new European standard with the highest quality PET flakes, which to date has been difficult especially given the numerous exter- nal contaminants that exist in the post consumer baled bottle stream today. APPE has a target to achieve fewer than 10ppm of external contamination (especially of PVC content) and only sophisticated sorting systems like the Powersort can meet our target. The installation of the Powersort in October 2010 has allowed APPE Beaune to significantly improve its quality of RPET resin suitable for direct food contact. It also allowed APPE to meet the requirements of its customers and - we believe – it sets the standard for others to follow. The sorter has now been running for 2 months (PETplanet: as at time of writing in December 2010) and we expect that following further fine- tuning and process stabilisation in the coming month our ultimate goal will be achieved.” Wellman Recycling plant / AE Spijk/Netherlands “Eventually, we feel, our quality will become even- more reliable and our busi- ness solid and sustainable.” Wellman International with head quarters in Ireland is a global player in the development of fibre technolo- gies, and also the largest European recycler of post-consumer PET bottles, with plants in the Netherlands and in France. The intake capacity of Well- man in Spijk/Netherlands is 60,000t in bales turning out 45,000t in flake form, of which approx 40% is supplied to the Wellman sister company in Ireland, where it is used for fibre. The bal- ance goes mainly for sheet & bottle to bottle production to numerous external clients. Powersort was installed at the end of the processing line sort- ing flakes, further removing contami- nants & additives mainly for supply to demanding external customers. At the Wellman plant in AE Spijk, Neth- erlands, the Powersort is installed at the end of the line. Ing. Will Dingen, Production Manager, commented: “The quality of incoming PET waste is unpredictable, since we buy from several sources. When we made the decision to buy Powersort, our existing customers had problems with additives in the flakes we supplied. We saw that the Unisensor machine was able to cope with the problems by eliminating the additives from the flow of flakes or at least by consider- ably reducing them. So we bought the machine, put it in place and started running. Of course with the new machine we also could separate from the PET flake flow other contaminants such as PA 66, PVC and coloured PET which we would then be able to sell as a by-product. The sorting system was installed in late 2009. We are very satisfied with the performance – running at a speed of 2.5t/h, sorting currently the major- ity of different additives out of those flakes which we separate for custom- ers requesting a higher quality profile for sheet making and food packag- ing. We are still experimenting with the various machine and operational parameters, which require continuous optimisation. We also suffered from the influence of a very dusty environ- ment.The critical issues are well on the way to being solved by both sides. Eventually – we feel - our quality will become even more reliable and our business solid and sustainable.” RecyPET in Frauenfeld/Switzerland “Powersort is in line - fully integrated.” Kornel Büsser, Managing Director and Production Manager, RecyPET The RecyPET company of Swit- zerland belongs to a group of interna- tional recyclers, together with Cleana- way PET International in Rostock/ Germany and Norköpping/Sweden, under the holding umbrella of Veolia Umweltservice. At RecyPET, Switzerland, the Powersort is fully integrated in the processing line. Swiss bales enjoy a high reputation for cleanliness. The intake capacity of RecyPET is 18,000t in bales contain- ing beverage bottles only, which are collected, manually pre-sorted. The recyclate is returned to the markets in the form of CleanPET flakes – most of them with food approval for new bottles and sheets. The final sorting of flakes is receiving top priority at RecyPET. Three sorting systems are installed at the end of the processing line, one for sorting out metals and coloured flakes, one from Unisensor (Powersort mainly for sorting chemical elements integrated in PET such as additives, PVC, silicone and other defined con- taminants) and one more optical sorter for even the slightest contamination of the flakes sorting out minor black and white crumbs. The flakes pass all three sorting systems, some of them even two or three times in order to minimise losses and ensure high quality.