PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2019

TRADE SHOW REVIEW PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 12/19 www.petpla.net 42 Light barrier white opaque bottles successfully trialled A recycled vision in white While progress has been made across the board in recycling PET, the challenge of white bottles had remained. Can a white opaque mas- terbatch be used in PET monolayer bottles, including recycling rates of up to 100%, without impacting production and/or end product property like light barrier? Sukano and Sidel technically proved that Sukano-designed white opaque masterbatch formulations can be used in PET monolayer bottles, and still be processed at the same machine throughput. This was real- ised by using Sidel’s most recent gen- eration of blow-moulders, EvoBlow, with no impact on colour, properties, functionality or production rates, according to the two companies. Sukano’s technical expert team started by formulating monolayer PET white bottles masterbatch and sub- mitting them for recycling using the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) protocol. The melt viscosity, pres- sure and stability, were determined to be well processable. In addition, the high-quality melt filterability indicated its purity and consistency. The melt also showed very stable colour, with the end material remaining white at all levels, very similar to the initial virgin PET white bottles – also at 100% rPET. Finally, the IV was also reported stable, with a level of 0.65 at all stages of recycled PET. The Solid State Poly- merisation (SSP) process evidenced a similar rate as for the virgin PET, with an IV level of 0.7/0.8. As one of the key factors, no agglomerations were found. Thanks to the formulation and ingredients used by Sukano technical experts, including selected raw material surface treat- ments that are compatible and stable during recycling. Michael Kirch, Global Head of R&D at Sukano stated: “We are convinced that the design guidelines for the recy- clability of white opaque PET bottles can be enhanced to reflect the required technical requirements that enable bot- tle-to-bottle light barrier white opaque PET to come to life.” When design formulation expertise successfully meets top-edge blowing technology Sidel, a leading provider of equipment and services solutions for packaging food, beverage, home and personal care products in PET, can, glass and other materials, used the recycled material in its high speed PET blowing machine, to produce 25%, 50% and 100% light barrier white opaque rPET bottles. The light barrier was adjusted by adding a Sukano-designed white PET masterbatch formulation, except in the 100% rPET content bottle. In this case, the difference in terms of colour shade versus the original virgin bottle was barely noticeable, and the integrity of the light barrier was con- firmed for extreme conditions, such as less than 0.1% light transmission at the 550nm wavelength. “We saw no measurable difference in processing conditions or blowing output while processing the 100% recy- cled white PET material from Sukano- designed white masterbatches, even under the most challenging conditions,” said Naima Boutroy, Global Packaging Expert from Sidel. “While a few adjust- ments to the process may be needed to optimise the overall result, our joint achievement and proof of concept ena- bles us to raise the bar, with great bottle mechanical and physical performances.” It is now clear that a routine can be established to create an official outlet for opaque PET bottles, and the impact on the environment could be relevant. The companies state that one of the greatest achievements of the collabo- ration is the demonstration that a light barrier white opaque PET bottle can indeed be up to 100% bottle-to-bottle recycled, going back to the same appli- cation or being upcycled and used for new added-value outlets. “Every local market is a key player to ensure that the circular economy does indeed join up. We are happy to announce we have taken another step forward by confirming the recyclability of light barrier white opaque PET bottles – and most importantly, offering an alter- native end of life that goes back into its original application.” said Alessandra Funcia, Head of Sales & Marketing at Sukano. www.sukano.com www.sidel.com Sukano and Sidel recently teamed up to technically prove for the first time that making light barrier white opaque PET bottles from recycled material is possible – and can be done at the same throughput. Light barrier white opaque bottles (photo: Sidel)