PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2019

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 04/19 www.petpla.net 10 Recycling Special PETplanet asked Mr Wim Hoen- derdaal co-chairman of the Petcore Europe PET Thermoforms Working Group about the actual and future technology developments on chemical recycling. The chemical recycling process PETcore Europe has started the special PET industry group called “PET Monomer Recycling”. The reason for choosing the words “Mono- mer Recycling” instead of “Chemical Recycling” has to do with the fact that there is confusion about the exact meaning of the word Chemical Recy- cling of Plastics and if all processes falling in this category have a real environmental benefit. Feedstock recycling processes like gasifica- tion and pyrolysis can be applied for organic waste or mixed plastic What about chemical recycling? Looking back to the beginnings of plastics recycling, it becomes clear that since the 1980s, mechanical engineers have developed increas- ingly from general post-industrial plastics recyclers to highly specialised post-consumer PET recyclers. Making a name for themselves in particular are mechanical engineers in PET recycling from Austria, Germany and Italy. The specialising of PET recycling systems and the founding of individual PET business branches began around the turn of the millennium. To give three examples:  In 1999, Erema receives FDA food approval for the Vacurema bottle to bottle system; continuous develop- ment of the Vacumera line specific to different needs; in 2018, Erema and Polymetrix develop a com- bination made from nitrogen and vacuum line: Vacunite waste and results in Syngas or oil like products. From these products new monomers can be produced. In some countries chemical recycling is consid- ered as not acceptable because of “not enough” environmental benefits. In some cases no compensation is given for the collected mixed plastics when these processes are used. In case of Polyester, de-polymerisation leads directly to the required mono- mers and avoids a lot of process- ing steps and energy usage. This is highlighted by using the name “PET Monomer Recycling”. There are many ways to Rome, same count for the PET monomer recycling technologies that lead to purified monomers like PTA, Ethylene Glycol or BHET. After de-polymerisa- tion a range of technologies can be applied for the purification, mostly a combination of filtration, absorption, distillation, ultra-filtration and crystal- lisation. Chemical recycling involved in the PET recycling market PET monomer recycling will always be complementary to mechan- ical recycling. When the feedstock (bales) have enough good quality, mechanical recycling can convert them into flakes or pellets that can perfectly be used in transparent bottle to bottle, film and sheet or to applica- tions where colours are acceptable such as strapping. From the roughly 4.0 million tons of PET that is used in Europe for all bottles and thermo- forms, only 1.2 to 1.3 million tons are recycled back from bottles into flakes or pellets, meaning that 2.7 million tons are not recovered. This is partly because of lack of collection and partly because of quality reasons. In case we would go to more deposit schemes in Europe, this would extract the good quality bottles enhancing mechanical recycling but at the same time is leaving us with the question of what to do with the rest. Applica- tions that can absorb lower quality bales such as strapping are small and already saturated. It is just an estima- tion but let’s assume 50% of all PET packaging’s can be recovered by mechanical recycling and the other 50% for PET monomer recycling. PET monomer recycling is first of all solving the recyclability problem. Recycling starts with the recyclability of the packaging itself, design for recy- cling, colours, opaque, multilayer, AA scavengers, oxygen scavengers, etc.  Starlinger 2004: Installation of the first recoStar PET 125 iV+ for regranulate approved by the FDA for use in food packaging; foundation of Starlinger Viscotec in 2012.  In 2014, NGR brings P:React onto the market. The LSP process utilises the inherent capability of PET to con- densate in the molten phase under vacuum. This condensation leads to an increase of IV. The high-perfor- mance vacuum effectively decon- taminates the material from harmful chemicals, securing further use of the material for 100% food contact. The processes for PET recycling are constantly giving rise to new technolo- gies. Recyclers have got to the point where they can supply their customers with the desired IV in flake form to suit the final application. Nevertheless, the PET recycling industry sees great chal- lenges ahead. Because of the increas- ing demand for rPET and the lack of or insufficient collection systems, their customers receive varied, mostly poorer qualities of bales. Higher international quality standards are undercut by the poorer quality. Mechanical engineers therefore face even higher require- ments to develop high quality solutions and to satisfy the increasing requests for systems. In addition to mechanical PET recycling, the last five years have seen the development of pilot projects in the field of chemical recycling. This method is seen as a solution supple- mentary to mechanical recycling and offers the possibility of converting ODRs and making them reusable. Over the coming pages of our Recy- cling Special, we have brought together several voices, opinions, conference reports and new developments in the sector. It is clear that the entire PET value creation chain is thrilled by the currently rapid developments in PET recycling! Recycling, a review