PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2019

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 04/19 www.petpla.net 30 Food safe PET recycling Since the first “Letter of Non Objection” from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2009, Gneuss’ recycling process based on the Multiple Screw Extruder (MRS) has received a number of national approvals for processing up to 100% post-consumer and industrial polyester reclaim into food contact products. Recycling Special Last year, Gneuss obtained food contact approval from Anvisa, Bra- zil’s equivalent to the FDA. This is the first ever approval in Brazil for making food contact sheet from PET reclaim. It is a significant contribution toward increasing polyester recycling in Brazil. In Latin America, Gneuss’ recycling process has also achieved the stand- ards set by the Colombian food safety agency, Invima and its Argentinian counterpart, Senasa for pro- cessing 100% post-consumer PET reclaim to food contact products. In Europe, Gneuss received EFSA approval for the processing of 100% post- consumer PET on a ther- moforming sheet line. One of these production lines is part of the technical center at Gneuss’ headquarters and available for cus- tomer trials. With the MRS sheet line undried PET reclaim material is processed directly into thermoforming sheet. The melt in the MRS extruder’s multiple screw section is devolatilised and decontaminated from impurities, oils and odours. Based on a conventional single-screw extruder, the multi- rotation section of the MRS extruder consists of a drum with eight satellite screws which have a ring gear and pinion drive. The degassing perfor- mance here is about fifty times higher than that of a conventional single- screw extruder, while using a simple water-ring vacuum system with a vacuum of approx. 25-40mbar. A study by the British associa- tion for promoting recycling, “Waste and Resources Action Programme” (WRAP) in 2016 showed that with the help of the Gneuss Recycling Process, it was possible to take post– consumer thermoformed PET pots, tubs and trays from household waste and recycle them back into the same products, for food contact. Unlike the re-processing of PET bottle flake to sheet for thermoforming, this process is a truly circular one. The study was published under the title “Development and optimisation of a recycling process for PET pots, tubs and trays”. Thanks to the unparalleled devola- tilisation performance of the Gneuss MRS extruder, contaminants such as oils, other harmful volatiles and also odours are efficiently removed from washed PET scrap without the need for pre-drying or any other heat treat- ment of the material prior to extrusion. Avoiding the need for heat treat- ment of the material prior to extrusion saves investment and energy costs, a whole inflexible process is eliminated, together with the risk of damage to the material. The polymer is processed gently in the low shear MRS extruder. The final product has excellent colour (low yellowing) and transparency, states the company. Gneuss’ research department is currently working on technical and innovative developments that will set new standards in PET extrusion in terms of performance, effi- ciency and product quality. These will be presented to the public at the K’ trade fair in October. www.gneuss.com CONTACT US TODAY TO LEARN MORE! AGRINTL.COM | +1.724.482.2163 | SALES@AGRINTL.COM MANAGE PREFORM VARIANCES Agr’s patented control technology precisely manages material distribution in PET containers to produce more consistent ERWWOHV UHJDUGOHVV RI GL΍HUHQFHV LQ SUHIRUPV PROCESS PILOT ®