PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2015

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 13 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 11/15 www.petpla.net the first instance, the principal players were the beverages bottlers who com- mitted themselves to this agenda, and this is the reason why our company PET to PET Recycling was set up by beverages bottlers.” The prescriptions of the Sus- tainability Agenda are deemed to be fulfilled if 80% of the packaging delivered to consumers is refilled or materially recycled. The process of implementing the Sustainability Agenda begins with the ARA (Altstoff Recycling Austria). ARA – Altstoff Recycling Austria ARA is an Austrian collection, sorting and recycling system owned by national companies. This is how it currently operates: The PET bottles are collected in yellow bins and sacks from private households and in collab- oration with the local authorities, then pre-sorted and pressed into bales and made ready for recycling. Strasser: “The ARA has been in existence since 1993 and was estab- lished by the industry as a non-profit organisation. Even at that time, its objective was to meet the require- ments enshrined in the Packaging Directive. The Directive obliged any entity who puts packaged goods into circulation in Austria to bear responsi- bility for the packaging and to under- take to take back the packaging or ally themselves with a system that fulfils this obligation.” The main shareholder is the Alt- stoff Recycling Austria Association. Its members are packaging manufac- turers, bottlers, importers and dis- tributors of packaged goods but not companies in the disposal sector. The ARA is financed by the licence fees paid by its customers and the pro- ceeds from the recourses. There is no deposit on the bottle. The price of the beverage already includes the licence fee mentioned. At the beginning of the 1990s, 44% of used packaging was recycled. By 2013, 71% was reintro- duced into circulation in the form of recyclate. Strasser: “The essential pre-req- uisite for any high-level, sophisticated process cycle is access to the used packaging. This needs to be collected in an orderly manner and made avail- able to the economy in an orderly fashion. May I mention an important point here: collecting represents just one of the tasks involved. A further important stage is the sorting process. There are now more than 17 sort- ing operations in Austria working for the ARA, respectively for licensed collectors. A high volume of our basic materials comes from the ARA, in accordance with contracts specifying the quotas to be supplied. In addition PET bales were bought from national or international sources.” The PET process cycle PET from bottle-to-bottle – the stages in the circulatory system: Bottle moulding and filling - consump- tion of the contents of the bottle, collection and sorting, recycling and reinstate preform for new bottles. In accordance with the Sustainability Agenda and on average: 30% rPET is an acceptable value in a newly moulded bottle. Strasser: “I would just emphasise that there are applications that involve the use of much higher quantities of recyclate, as high as 70%, as well as other applications featuring lower levels of recyclate. This is decided on a case by case basis but is essentially dependent on the weight of the pre- form, the shape and size of the bottle, and any special features. In Austria, the figure tends to lie around the 30% mark, and this is the target figure we aim for. Gradually and consistently, we have succeeded in raising the recy- clate quotas – though in a sensi- tive manner so that the consumer is unaware of the fact. The packaging reflects the highest level of quality.” PETplanet: How often can the PET bottle be recycled – without sac- rificing quality? Is there such a thing as fatigue affecting the material? Strasser: “We are not talking about old being equal to new. At a ratio of 30% rPET and 70% new PET, there is no significant loss, and the material can undergo further processing. Even with repeated melting, any loss of qual- ity can only be established by means of measuring technology and is not noticeable in the slightest as far as the consumer is concerned. A higher ration of rPET has to be added carefully to avoid secondary effects.” PET Data Austria Collection, recycling, utilisation and tonnage and percentage PET consumption for bottles approx. 43,000 t  for approx. 1.4 bio bottles  Collection quota 80 % incl. misses and waste  Recycling quota 57 % sorted PET  Utilisation quota 30% pure PET - filled and sold Strasser: “It should be obvious that the number of PET bottles in circulation determines the quantities of material available for processing. The more successful the collection operation, the better business is for the recyclers. ARA and its commercial partners understand how to maintain and sustain the circulation of local and regional resources by delivering to us adequate volumes of mate- rial. If we were to strive for economic optimisation many of the materials collected would be siphoned off into the Asiatic markets. If our value-added chain were to be severed, we would be unable to afford technology or to Filling the clean food proofed PET flakes at the end of the URRC line Dipl.Ing. Christian Strasser explains his plant