PETpla.net Insider 06+07 / 2014

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 24 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 06+07/14 www.petpla.net PET recycling in the Andes Bottle recycling hits a high note One of the most recently installed recoStar PET 330 iV+ recycling lines from Starlinger recycling technology operates at 1,300m above sea level. An established producer of fibres, filaments, yarns and resins for the textile industry based in the “City of Eternal Spring” in Medellín in the heart of Colombia, Enka de Colombia S. A. recognised the potential of bot- tle-to-bottle recycling and decided to move into this application. with product specifications and pellet shape were the criteria the company defined for the equipment as well as criteria such as machine footprint, price and technical support. The PET recycling plant began production in December 2013. Enka’s experiences with the pro- duced rPET on the Colombian market are promising. Evaluations of the recycled PET resin made by Enka customers show satisfying results – both as raw material and in bottles produced with different mixing ratios. “Tests are being car- ried out with bottles that are pro- duced with a recycled content rang- ing from 25% to up to 100%. They receive very good acceptance from our customers”, says Aníbal Celis. In December 2013 Enka also obtained the approval of the Colombian health authority Invima (National Institute of Surveillance of Drugs and Food) for four years. Flexible production capacity The Starlinger recoStar PET 330 iV+ recycling line for Enka is designed for an output capacity of 2.4t/h and features two 165 mm single-screw extruders and adequately sized upstream and downstream equip- ment. The input material is cleaned in a Sorema washing line while two vis- coStar 120 solid state polycondensa- tion reactors ensure constant IV level increase according to specifications. “An important feature of the reco- Star PET 330 recycling line we sup- plied to Enka is the flexible production output: it can be adjusted between 1.1 and 2.4t/h”, explains Stefan Obermül- ler, Project Manager at Starlinger and responsible for the Enka installation. “We have developed a “Single Mode Operation” Package that enables Enka to operate the recycling line at 45% of its nominal production capac- ity. In this case only one extruder is used and production of smaller quanti- ties is possible without losses in pellet quality or a disproportionate increase in energy consumption. This gives Enka total flexibility in adjusting their production according to raw material availability and rPET demand.” This installation is also the first to be equipped with a newly developed automatic IV control system that is integrated in the process. After set- ting the desired IV level the recycling line automatically adjusts operation parameters to reach it. During produc- tion the IV level is constantly monitored and parameters readjusted if neces- sary. This avoids IV variations after the extruder and ensures very constant IV values already during pellet production. Recycled content up to 100% “After we started to recycle post-consumer PET bottles for fibre production in 2009 we saw PET recycling both as a new challenge and an opportunity for a new line of business that aligns perfectly with our sustainability strategy”, says Aníbal Celis Carvajal, Group Coordinator for Integral Management and Processes at Enka. “With PET consumption in Latin America steadily growing and PET recycling gaining a foothold, we began to study the various recycling technologies in different continents of the world, especially in the area of bottle-to-bottle recycling.” After look- ing at the various technologies avail- able on the market, Enka opted for the Starlinger super-clean process and purchased a recoStar PET 330 iV+ PET recycling line in 2013. Approvals of FDA and EFSA as well as of major brand-owners, decontamination effi- ciency, viscosity increase, compliance The Starlinger recoStar PET 330iV+ recycling line