PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2015

EDITOUR REPORT 14 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 01+02/15 www.petpla.net covered area totalling 12,000m 2 . The first building houses the manufacture of bottle to bottle pellets R-PET IV( FDA- approved). Installed inside is a complete Erema extrusion line which handles the whole of the processing cycle as far as the in-line crystalliser with a capacity of 1,800kg/h. The second building is given over to the manufacture of PET Flakes R-PET for fibres and packaging not in contact with foodstuffs. Installed here are two Sorema washing and sorting lines for two colours at the same time, with an over- all capacity of 5,000kg/h. The third building is where the post-consumer HDPE and LDPE treatments are accommo- dated, with washing and crushing lines as well as extrusion lines with a total capacity of 6,000kg/h. Production is on a 24/7 basis. The basic material for the PET treatment is post- consumer bottles that are sourced in colour-sorted and pressed bales. These bales come predominantly from Corepla Italy with a smaller proportion (high transport costs) from Belgium (transparent material only). Corepla is a national consortium handling the collection and recy- cling of used plastic packaging. It was established in 1997. Within the communities (more or less) used plastic packag- ing is collected and brought to collection stations that can be found distributed throughout Italy. Here the plastic pack- aging is then separated from the rubbish and streamed into various categories such as, for example, film, PE or mixed plastic bags. From these latter, PET containers are then separated into three colour categories, light blue, mixed and trans- parent. Once pressed into bales, authorised recyclers throughout the EU will then be able to purchase the bales at auctions which are held on a monthly basis. Cier only purchase light blue and transparent. The quality of the baled material is, however, not good enough which means that Cier need to instigate their own sorting and separat- ing measures. In addition, Italian legislation will only allow 95% of the post-consumer material for PET to come from foodstuffs packaging. The material from the bales is washed on two lines, one for transparent and one for light blue. Paper, closures and bottles with PVC labels are sorted at the same time (partly by hand). After this comes crushing to form flakes in sizes ranging from 2 to 8mm. Subsequently the flakes go through another separating station designed to separate out any further label residue or other contaminants. These pro- cessing stages take place in parallel on both lines, with a sorting rate of 25%. These flakes (R-PET) in light blue and transparent are the basic commodities that undergo further processing into film, fibre and PET packaging without any contact with foodstuffs. For Bottle to Bottle Quality, however, the customers demand 100% pure goods and a higher IV. For this only transparent flakes undergo further treatment in a heat pro- cess. On an Erema extrusion line with subsequent granula- tion, crystallisation and IV enhancement in a high vacuum, pellets emerge (R-PET IV) that are FTA-approved for the manufacture of PET beverage bottles and cosmetics. The overall quantities are divided up as follows: 75-80% in R-PET flakes, 15-20% in R-PET IV pellets and approx. 5% in PE. Coming back to the point about excessively high prices in Italy mentioned at the beginning of this article, Palmino Di Giacinto’s reaction is one of bitterness. “Italy is not in a position to monitor the quality of the post-consumer mate- rial. Neither is the government in a position to support firms in the chain from user to pressed bale by means of stand- ardised regulations. We can also purchase post-consumer material abroad but the trucks have to be driven by Italian drivers and a permit is required. Transport costs in Italy are higher here than anywhere else in Europe, due to high wage and fuel costs. Then, on top of this there are the high energy costs of electricity and gas. All in all, Italy is not competitive anywhere in Europe in this market.” Palmino Di Giacinto continued: “The Italian baled mate- rial is becoming ever more expensive. Currently it is cost- ing around €500 a tonne. In addition to this the poor quality of the material means that we are obliged to invest in our own sorting and separating lines so that we can guarantee the required quality and consistency for our customers. Flakes in R-PET quality in light blue f.l.t.r.: Sandra Di Giacinto, Financial Manager and Palmino Di Giacinto, Sales Director of Cier with Alexander Büchler and Waldemar Schmitke of PETplanet on the Cier forecourt in front of the Editourmobil