PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2011

PRODUCTS 48 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 09/11 www.petpla.net Recycling line recoSTAR PET iV+ Ongoing PET recycling innovation, quality and state-of-the-art technology, a full range of consulting services – brought to you by Starlinger. Visit us at: Fakuma 2011, Germany, Oct. 18-22, Booth A7-7403 Plast Imagen 2011, Mexico, Oct. 4-7, Booth 524A www.starlinger.com pet-recycling.com Doubled capacity of material handling control Conair’s FLX material-handling control system is now available in a larger configuration that will serve up to 64 loaders and 20 vacuum conveying pumps. This top-end capacity is double that of the original. The PLC-based system has a 5.6-inch colour touch screen operator interface on the central control box, with colour-coded icons. Alarms can be programmed as active (disabling the device being alarmed) or passive, allowing operations to con- tinue until maintenance staff can identify the problem. Up to six remote human- machine interface units (HMIs) can be connected to the system via Ethernet link. A built-in webserver allows any personal computer on the network to display system status as a web page. The entry-level FLX system is designed to manage eight loaders and two pumps. www.conairgroup.com ‘Eco-friendly’ labeller Krones’ recently-announced new labeller, called the Sleevematic ES, is designed for handling stretch-sleeve films. These allow an extremely high stretch rate on beverage containers of up to 55%. Based on LDPE (low-den- sity polyethylene), these films constitute an attractive alternative to sleeves made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Krones claims that recyclable LDPE films are more eco-friendly and that their high stretching capability means that this new kind of sleeve is smaller and requires less material. The company also says that these stretch-sleeves are more than twice as elastic as conventional stretch-sleeves, which makes them suitable for customised containers with very prominent contours. They require neither a shrink tunnel nor a container drier, which thus offers potential savings in energy consumption. Sleevematic ES is offered in two versions. The single-carousel variant is rated at a maxi- mum of 27,500 containers/h; the twin-carousel version is rated at 55,000 containers/h maximum. www.krones.com Light large-format water cooler bottle Siapi has recently developed a one-way 5 US Gal (19l) PET water container using a lightened 330g preform. It is 60g, or 15%, lighter than the market standard of 390g. Siapi says that this new product required extremely accurate plan- ning and a series of software simu- lations and laboratory tests in order to ensure that its performance. It was also subject to practical tests, including the use of different water types, in order to fine-tune its oper- ation. Production of a lightweight, large-capacity container requires an extremely precise blowing pro- cess because distribution of the low amount of plastic in the bottle requires precisely-controlled distri- bution. Siapi recommends its EA1S and EA2S machines (one and two cavities respectively) as being able to control all the parameters necessary to ensure compliance with the original design. The bottle has been registered as a design in Turkey. The company says it has raised interest from bottlers across the Gulf and Middle East region. www.siapi.it