PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2015

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 12 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 10/15 www.petpla.net A fully integrated optical sorting station makes the difference Following the installation of Bühler’s fully integrated opti- cal sorting station, Poly Recycling GmbH confirmed that they achieved a full return on investment in six months. The installation, which included three Sortex optical sorters for the separation and sorting of recycled plastic flakes at its plant in Weinfelden, Switzerland, was a significant step for- ward for Poly Reycling and for Bühler’s continuing develop- ment of its optical sorting capabilities for the plastics recy- cling industry. The optical sorting station, the first of its kind in the industry, has enabled Bühler to widen its portfolio in the plastics sector, moving beyond single machine installations to fully integrated optical sorting stations. This solution, integrating separation and sorting steps in the processing line, includes plant engineering, sort- ing technology, mechanical separation machinery, pneumatic conveyors, pre- conditioners and auxiliary equipment. The installation has provided Poly Recycling with a processing line capa- ble of sorting a wide range of polymer, colour and PET products, to create plastic flakes of a higher quality stand- ard. This development is for plastic recycling processors who are increas- ingly required to remove unwanted polymers together with unwanted col- ours and foreign materials, including flakes coated with glue or adhesives, loose paper labels, aluminium and ferrous metals. It also enables multi- national food and beverage compa- nies to meet the demands of the food industry for high quality food grade recycled rPET products and increas- ing the use of recycled materials in plastic packaging. The company sought Bühler to increase the capacity and quality of its rPET flake sort at its Swiss facility, which is now sorting at over 3t per hour, as well as enhancing its mate- rial sorting capabilities to overcome the issue of PVC contamination from labels on rPET bottles using newly developed PVC Label Reductions Kits.Three years on, the company has expanded its business by providing its high-quality plastics flakes to a wide range of new sectors. Previously supplying the food industry, where recycled plastics flakes were used to produce food packaging and bever- age bottles,and the cosmetic industry, where they were used in products packaging, films, containers and strapping, the use of Poly Recycling’s plastic flakes has been extended to the clothing and automotive indus- tries, where the product is used in the production of airbags, seat belts, insulation mats and air filters. Talking about this development of the installation, Mr. Casper van de The optical sorting station