PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2019

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 04/19 www.petpla.net 18 Recycling Special The 50/50 solution An interview with Rüdiger Löhl, Managing Director of E-proPlast, in which we discuss the increasing level of recyclate in PET bottles and why “100% rPET” is not sustainable. PETplanet: What are these issues that have to be borne in mind when using rPET? And which material mix of virgin/recycled material makes the most sense in your view, not only in terms of sustainability but also for pro- cessing technology and quality? Löhl: First of all, I should mention variations in colour. Due to the various input qualities in the recycling stream, PET regranulate has a different colour- ing. The natural colour of clear bottles can vary between grey, blue and green- ish-yellow, depending on the input qual- ity of the recyclate. The more recyclate is added, the darker the bottles become. Secondly, there may be visible black dots in the material as not all foreign particles can be completely filtered out during production of the PET regranu- late. The third point relates to mechanical properties and wall thickness distribu- PETplanet: Your company spe- cialises in the design and manufacture of PET bottles for the beverages and HBC industries. To what extent has customer demand for new PET/rPET material shifted in recent years? Löhl: We have been manufac- turing PET bottles which contain a proportion or as much as 100% rPET for many years. However, the number of orders has gone up dramatically in the last two years, nearly two-thirds of which are relate to the use of rPET. PETplanet: Does your customer markets (beverages/HBC) differ in this respect in terms of demand for a cer- tain proportion of rPET/bottle? Löhl: We are not often involved in the classic beverage industry market (i.e. water, soft drinks etc.). We make a distinction between food and clean- ing/cosmetic products. We produce PET juice bottles for cold and hot filling for the food sector, although demand for rPET in this area is still low. We also provide bottles for honey and sauces. Here, we are already using rPET on a large scale, with content ratios ranging from between 30% and 50%. With the advent of the Frosch brand from Werner & Mertz GmbH, demand for bottles with rPET is great- est for cleaning and care products. We produce a variety of products that comprise a proportion or up to 100% rPET. We are also seeing an increase in bottles for cosmetics products. Of course, customers always want the maximum percentage of rPET in their bottles. We discuss this in great detail with our clients in advance and highlight the various issues involved in the use of rPET. Rüdiger Löhl, Managing Director E-proPlast by Gabriele Kosmehl 100% rPET bottles PET bottle samples realised with 50% rPET