PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2021

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 01+02/21 www.petpla.net 18 Vacuum filter enables consistent viscosity for customised polyester Viscosity and homogeneity are crucial Further development of the circular economy for post-consumer or post-production waste is a particular priority, which means that the recyclability of PET products is especially significant. Modern, resource-friendly packaging would not be conceivable without manmade PET fibres and commodities made from chemicals, such as beverage bottles and cleaning materials. As a dominant raw material, along with polyolefins and polyamide, recycling of polyester is absolutely essential. In the case of PET bottle material, recycling of polyester materials and possibilities for converting the waste into new high-end products within the polyester filaments, fibres and non- wovens market are very advanced. Across the globe, consumers are demanding sustainable products and careful resource utilisation, in the textile sector increasingly, too. Leading fashion companies, sports apparel makers, furniture manufactur- ers and the automobile industry (e.g. for car seats and interior cladding) are increasingly focusing on sustainable products, including those made from recycled materials. They are already instructing suppliers of filaments, fibres and nonwovens that they will, in the near future, be switching their textile products from exclusively virgin polyester to as much as 100% recy- cle. Consumers’ social awareness has been the trigger. The original trend of manufactur- ing only sub-premium goods, e.g. insulating materials, using recycled polyester, is now seen as short- sighted. Recycled polyester has long been present within the high-end textile segment. Seeing polyester as a valuable resource rather than as waste is the correct perspective. Manmade fibres and filaments made from recycled bottle flakes require corresponding single-variety collection, pre-sorting and compre- hensive cleaning of the material being recycled, before shredding into poly- ester flakes. They can then be spun directly into pre-oriented yarns (POY) filaments (DTY (drawn textured yarn) in the downstream process), staple fibres, nonwovens and BCF end- less filaments. Technology is now so refined that many product applications achieve quality levels equivalent to virgin material. However, there are also many cases in which the material qual- ity and/or property achieved does not meet market requirements. For numerous textile applications, para- meters such as viscosity and homoge- neity are crucial and must be subject to virtually no fluctuations. Enabling recycled polyester to be used in the first place requires pre-treatment. BB Engineering GmbH’s VacuFil recy- cling process enables the manufac- ture of outstandingly homogeneous, viscosity-stable rPET melt; a precisely definable and reproducible raw mate- rial for downstream processes, such as spinning plants. As an experienced manufacturer in this field, BB Engi- neering (BBE) is familiar with the dire impact that even the smallest viscosity deviation has on the spinning process. The company says that, with Vacu- Fil, it has succeeded in aligning melt with process in a targeted manner, Matthias Schmitz, VacuFil Product Manager, and Dr Klaus Schäfer, Managing Director BB Engineering GmbH