PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2017

Decontamination dryer deCON50 PREFORM PRODUCTION PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 06/17 www.petpla.net 24 PCR flake to preform made in Slovakia General Plastic, Plc. was founded in May 2002 with the main goal of PET bottle recycling in a state-of-the-art washing line and a bottle-to-bottle PET recycling plant from Starlinger. The food grade and iV increased pellets or washed flakes were sold on the open market. In 2010 the company expanded its activities into PET preforms for fillers of non-alcoholic drinks as well as wine, oil and the production of LDPE shrink film. General Plastic, based in Slovakia, is a well known processor of PET bottles and producers of PET preforms in Cen- tral Europe. The company’s business activities include:  production of PET preforms for the producers of wine, non-alcoholic drinks and oils  recycling of PET bottles into washed flakes  production of PET re-granulate  producing of LDPE shrink film  recycling of non metallic scrap and remains PET preforms are designed for the production of bottles, mainly for food- stuffs. Coloured and colourless PET preforms are designed for blow moulded bottles made for direct contact with water, milk, fat food and alcoholic drinks (below 50% volume of ethanol) below 40°C. In light of a clear growth and sustain- ability strategy, the company decided in 2015 to dedicate a large investment for the “flake to preform” segment of which Starlinger viscotec’s deCON technol- ogy is an integral part. Jozef Ungvarsky, General Manager of General Plastic: “No other company could demonstrate a sufficiently high level of decontamina- tion and suitable flexibility for this highly demanding application and this particular machine set-up. This set-up was the first and we could rely 100% on the profes- sional support and expertise of the entire viscotec team, beginning with the sales process to the high level of technical support during installation right through to the end with the expertise for the EFSA application.” The hot-washed PCR bottle-flakes are conveyed into the viscotec decon- tamination dryer - where the flakes are treated at a specific temperature and under vacuum conditions. Crucial to this process is the first in first out (FIFO) principle to make sure that every flake is treated and hence decontaminated the same way. The dynamic vacuum in the unit ensures firstly, the decontamination to the highest possible standard in line with all important international regulations (e.g. EFSA, FDA, Health Canada). Sec- ondly, in addition, dust from the bottle- flake is extracted to avoid defects in the final product. A perfect drying under vacuum, which is the third advantage since moisture in the material is the big- gest cause of iV loss. When processing PET it is essential to have the material super-dry to preserve the intrinsic viscos- ity as much as possible. After this pre-treatment, the material is conveyed into a dosing system which can mix various percentages of materi- als for the injection moulding stage. With this flexible setup and foodgrade without compromise preforms from 100% PCR flakes can be produced. The PCR flake to preform setup advantages include that less floor space and manpower are required and the simplified handling of materials. In addition, the overall lower investment cost in comparison to classic bottle-to- bottle recycling in terms of machinery is probably the smallest one, according to viscotec. The most important by far are the comparatively low production costs as a result of cheaper input material on the one hand and the lower energy consumption on the other. PCR bottle- flakes are supposed to be always lower in price than rPET pellets, since the complete step of drying and extrusion is not required. This also leads to a low energy consumption since the material is effectively pre-treated and melted only once before becoming a preform. Finally this process setup is the smartest and most efficient way to make preforms for drink manufacturers and still water fillers” summarises Jozef Ungvarsky this future oriented installation. www.generalplastic.sk www.viscotec.at PREFORM special At General Plastic in Slovakia preforms are made directly from PCR flakes. Jozef Ungvarsky, General Manager General Plastic