PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2019

PREFORM PRODUCTION PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 12/19 www.petpla.net 18 PREFORM Special 2014 At K 2013 Nissei ASB exhibited machinery featuring their 1.5-stage process. In their PF series, the pre- form is injection moulded, partially cooled, temperature equalised and re- heated before being blown (issue 3). 2015 One year after the launch of the new model series with PET-Line 2400 and 4000, Netstal presented the new 5000 model for moulds with up to 144 cavities, featuring faster cycle times and energy savings compared to pre- vious models, as we reported in issue 1+2. In issue 3 we reported about Sipa bringing together its preform compres- sion moulding system with a stretch- blow moulding unit in one machine. Xtreme Sincro claimed to produce preforms up to 10% lighter than any preforms produced by conventional injection moulding without losing any key properties. For the same issue, we visited Husky in Canada and learned that the recent trend towards smaller PET bot- tles could cause issues with shelf life in certain environments. So the time was considered right to launch a bar- rier module, built on the HyPET HPP5 platform. Several brands including Kortec and Mold-Masters were united under the Milacron banner. At NPE, a new servo-hydraulic PET system was pre- sented with the M-PET 300. (Issue 4) Sacmi presented its new IPS 400 for up to 128-cavities in the same issue. It featured a post-cooling system with preforms unloading directly into boxes. On a demonstra- tion in Imola, Italy, a 11 g preform was produced with a cycle time of 6.2 sec. on a 96-cavity MHT mould. For issue 9, we visited Yizumi Precision Machinery and its injection moulding machinery at Chinaplas. Their then new model PET-72A2 was designed for up to 96-cavities with energy-saving preform handling. Almost 300 different types of pre- forms for all neck finishes and weights were in the portfolio of Resilux when we visited them in Spain in 2014. Replacing aluminium with PET in the To what extent do you expect chemical recycling to change the preform landscape? Will we see more multi-layer in the future? Dave Morton, Vice President Multi-Layer Technology Solutions, Husky Injection Molding Systems: “Husky’s reinvention of multi-layer co-injection technology has opened up many new opportuni- ties. With our ability to precisely dose the inner layer and our industry-leading systems, we’ve been able to help make packages more economical, reliable and sustainable. As new alternative materials are being developed (biodegradable, compostable, bio-based), we see a lot of interest in using multi-layer technology to help achieve sustainability goals and incorporate more recycled content in packages. This technology can help to unlock materials that are currently challenging to process, making this an exciting opportunity to help further drive the circular economy. Additive suppliers are able to utilise the accuracy of Husky’s multi-layer technology to ensure traditional materials are able to be separated in the recycling stream. Both chemical and monomer recycling can help our customers use materials that are currently challenging for mechanical recyclers to process, or have little to no end-market value. We see chemical and monomer recycling as a complementary technology to today’s thermo-mechanical recy- cling.” Moraldo Masi, Sacmi: “Chemical recycling can potentially turn around the preform landscape. This is so because if some of the many companies that are busy working on this process, searching for a feasible and economically-sus- tainable industrial process, will succeed, it will be possible to obtain again the chemical molecules that compose PET. This would be the real and complete circular economy, without limitations or compromises.” Pablo Fiorentini, Sipa: “Based on the latest directives and market projections, we expect a world that is increas- ingly respectful of rules and the environment; we expect that gradually the colour additives will be abandoned to get a similar scenario to that already existing in Japan where high levels of post-consumer flakes purity and clarity are avail- able. In this regard, our Xtreme Renew system is the right solution at the right time because, thanks to mechanical recycling (much more advantageous than the chemical one) it is able to produce preforms for food contact in a single thermal cycle directly from simply washed flakes. Of course, the preform produced can be suitable also for non- food packaging. Considering the technologies developed and known so far, we cannot fail to note that there are strong constraints for the application of large-scale chemical recycling with justifiably acceptable costs. For the aforemen- tioned reasons we expect multi-layer technology to be less and less required and tolerated.” spray container sector was on their agenda back then. The production of two-layer preforms manufactured using the overmoulding technique to protect light-sensitive content was presented in issue 11 by Netstal, offering a new PET line variant with, the 2C, with two injection moulding unites for this. Preforms could be fitted with a thin, dark-tinted inner layer. 2016 The IM process does not allow fur- ther reduction of material in the area of the injection point, resulting in a waste rate of 2-10% of PET material in bottle bases. This is what Creative Packag- ing Solutions (CPS) stated in issue 4. The solution Mint-Tec presented together with Netstal, Otto Hofstetter and MHT is a mechanically optimised base design of the preform, saving up to 4% material (photo next page, top).