PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2011

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 19 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 03/11 www.petpla.net The European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) The European PET Bottle Platform was formed by the European Association of Plas- tics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (EPRO), the European Plastics Recyclers (EuPR), PET Containers Recycling Europe (Petcore), the Union of European Beverages Association (UNESDA) and the European Federation of Bottled Water (EFBW), with the main objective of evaluating packaging technologies and products and to facilitate PET bottle innovation, whilst minimising the economic and environmental consequences for recycling PET in Europe. It will do so by promoting the recyclability of PET bottles on the market by:  Establishing European harmonised guidelines for PET bottles recyclability that will be accepted across the whole value chain.  Encouraging industry to test new PET bottle concepts and/or materials before market launch according to the harmo- nised guidelines.  Giving advice and recommendations to the different stakeholders.  Sharing information and knowledge across the whole value chain. Members of the platform’s evaluation group are experienced technical experts from the whole PET value chain. They are tasked to evaluate novel technologies, materials and PET structures to verify their effect not only on the PET bottle recycling process but also on the PET chain. Companies develop- ing new resins, additives, technologies and novel processes for PET bottles are urged to approach EPBP at the earliest opportunity so that their applications can be assessed in the most efficient and economic manner. The full EPBP protocol has been developed from the Petcore protocol and the US Association of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers (APR) Criti- cal Guidance Document and also takes into account learning from the industry. The pro- tocol is split into quick tests and then more in-depth tests to ensure a speedy, accurate and economic outcome for both the applicant and for EPBP. The EPBP process can be viewed at: http://www.petbottleplatform.eu/technical.php More details and documents can be found on the EPBP website. Applicants are asked to discuss their application with EPBP in the first instance. To date EPBP has con- sidered 17 applications. Many are ongoing but there are 6 so far on the positive list. www.petbottleplatform.eu A TURN AHEAD TO MORE EFFICIENCY. Thanks to their high performance and constant mode of operation, our technologies developed for the plastics-processing industry increase the cost efficiency of every production process. Your production line benefits from maximum availability while at the same time guaranteeing optimum product quality, even when using 100 % recycled material. With Gneuss you are always a decisive turn ahead! www.gneuss.com a turn ahead Technology made by Gneuss: b )LOWUDWLRQ b ([WUXVLRQ b 3UR]HVVLQJ