PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2018

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 09/18 www.petpla.net 9 rPET instead of virgin PET for producing food trays Future looking investment pays EstPak Plastik is a family-owned enterprise founded 1999 in Hiiuma, Estonia, where the business started with one small thermoforming machine. Due to exports to the Scandina- vian markets, EstPak reached a further development stage with the installation of a new advanced production plant in Harjumaa, where the company employs around 40 people. EstPak extended their production area up to 10,000m 2 , just south of Tallinn. “The capacity amounts to 145 mil- lion trays with an export rate to the Scandinavian market of approximately 80%,” says Marek Harjak, Managing Director at EstPak Plastik. Forecasts point out that especially recycled PET will be a main resource for thermofor- med food trays in the years to come. Plastic is an essential material in eve- ryday life, one that is hardly imaginable without it. The recently adopted EU plastic strategy considers the ability to reuse and recycle plastic to promote an European transition towards a cir- cular economy which adheres to the global climate commitments. Currently the PET collection rate in Europe is up to 52%. By 2030 all packaging shall be based on reusable or recyclable mate- rial. An inevitability that EstPak Plastik early recognised. EstPak Plastik is responsible for guaranteeing that their thermoformed food trays are safe when they are in direct contact with food. As one of the leading PP and rPET specialist, EstPak Plastik is able to offer monolayer and laminated sheet to the thermoforming or Form-Fill-Seal market due to the latest investment in Starlinger-viscotec at the end of 2017. Before that, the company relied entirely on virgin PET material. “We were looking for a solu- tion which is able to produce rPET film that can get in touch with any type of food – including water applications,” explains Marek Harjak. Considering higher costs, and especially the lack of sustainabil- ity, virgin material was no longer an appropriate option for EstPak. Using post-consumer recycled PET flakes for the production of packaging contain- ers for the food industry is a delicate topic. In order to guarantee food safety, rPET material needs to be decontami- nated beforehand, which is done by the deCON – decontamination module of Starlinger viscotec. In the next step the viscoSHEET extrusion line uses the super-cleanest material to produce sheet with the highest degree of purity. This project funded by an Estonian environmental program pushed EstPak Plastik into a leading position on the Scandinavian market. Besides their innovation capacity, skillful and dedi- cated employees are the main forces to gain customer satisfaction, the organisation’s most important asset to expand their client base. This investment even captured the attention of the Estonian government. The environment minister of Estonia, Siim Kiisler, attended the opening cer- emony of the new production building and in his speech he pointed out the importance of sustainable approaches. Steps towards a green economy, including safe consumption and a better protected environment should be guaranteed. Therefore concepts, such as producing plastic packaging based on rPET, are indispensable for future investments. “EstPak Plastiks goal is to be the first choice to contact regarding pack- aging questions in Nordic Countries. Hoping to boost our sales in trays and rPET sheet in the future, investments in thermoforming and rPET extrusion lines need to be done soon. EstPak is a smart, innovative and suistainable producer, where design and production fully respect the needs of reuse and recycling,” reveals Marek Harjak. www.viscotec.at www.estpakplastik.ee Starlingers viscoSHEET extrusion line at EstPak Plastik workshop The new production plant of EstPak Plastik in Harjumaa, Estonia