PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2016

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 19 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 06/16 www.petpla.net Samples of flake from each of the exposure time periods was measured for IV to determine if the ultra- violet light from the sun’s radiation caused any loss in molecular weight. The plaques moulded from this flake were also measured for IV, colour and haze. The test results The IV results are quite interesting but not sur- prising in that the data clearly shows that exposure to ultraviolet radiation was very damaging to the PET material. Sample flake was also measured for colour before and after the one year exposure to determine if any obvious yellowing occurred. Surprisingly there was not a significant amount of yellowing seen in the colour of the bottle flake. The yellowing only became significant after the weather exposed PET had been subjected to melting required for moulding the plaques. PET reclaimers will take washed and cleaned flake and extrude it into pellets (not plaques). Thus if their bot- tles have been exposed to similar levels of ultraviolet radiation due to being stored outside, there would be an expected increase in yellowness resulting from the extrusion process. Further yellowing will then result when this extruded pelletised rPET is blended with virgin PET resin and melted yet again during preform manufacture. Thus the bottle production process will only further exacerbate the yellowing seen when this rPET is used. “What the average effect might be on an entire bale of bottles compared to what was seen in this study is a matter of debate. However one should con- sider all the potential causes of yellowing that can that limit the percentage of recycled PET that can be used. Exposure to UV radiation, whether it is from outside bale storage or possibly even exposure to fluores- cent lighting in retail stores, should be considered as another contributor to rPET quality degradation,” explained Dr Frank Schloss, PTI vice president. The white paper with detailed research findings is available on the PTI website. www.plastictechnologies.com Shades of yellow – UV light exposure and its impact on rPET 19 SRI LANKA PLAST, August 05-07, 2016 | Colombo | Sri Lanka FDT, September 14-15, 2016 | Johannesburg | South Africa PROPAK WEST AFRICA, September 20-22, 2016 | Lagos | Nigeria PROPAK MYANMAR, September 22-24, 2016 | Yagon | Myanmar CBB, October 11-14,2016 | Shanghai | China K 2016, October 19-26, 2016 | Düsseldorf | Germany CIBUS TEC, October 25-28 | Parma | Italy With Sacmi, the beverage specialists are always at your side. With our unbeatable technological know-how and continuous research we are creating new containers and closures designed to ensure outstanding performance. The new IPS injection system for preforms, the CCM compression press for caps and the quality control systems fully designed and built by Sacmi, allows for large-scale production with considerable advantages in terms of efficiency and flexibility. The outcome? Reduced plastic volumes, less energy consumption and lower running costs.All in a bottle: the one you’ll soon be making. MATERIAL / RECYCLI NG