PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2021

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 18 No. 0/17 www.petpla.net 18 Interview with Boretech Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd. Washing lines for Japan by Kay Barton The Chinese recycling system supplier Boretech has massively expanded its influence in the Japanese market and plans to have installed a total of nine complete systems and vari- ous individual components by the end of 2022. The focus here lies on PET bottle washing systems for bottle-to-bottle recycling with a processing capacity of 6 t/h. Along with India, this makes Japan a key sales market and could, according to the company, increase the proportion of sales from 30% in 2020 to 50% this year. PETplanet enthusiast Alan Ou, Senior Vice President of Boretech, explains the background. The company is in no way a newcomer: it has a 30-year history in recycling work and development. In 1991, Boretech in Taiwan became the second PET recycler. In 1994, its own factory in China was built for polyester fibre manufacturing using washed PET flakes. In the mid- 2000s, the engineering department emerged and started developing the planning and manufacturing of its own PET bottle washing lines. “With our many years of experience, we wanted to bring together economic aspects and quality,” says Alan Ou. “The crucial thing here is that almost every washing line is developed and constructed individually for the customer’s particular need and pro- cess.” Currently, over 170 recycling systems are running worldwide, including with customers such as Far Eastern, Reliance, Veolia and Polymetrix. “Companies like this have naturally fuelled our reputa- tion within the industry. Our systems have meanwhile been considered for many high-end projects and are moreover a cost-effective alterna- tive to the higher-priced European competition.” Now the focus is on Japan. What are the secrets of this success story? A joint venture with a Japa- nese recycling company, in exist- ence since 2000, has provided years of knowledge and experience of the Japanese PET recycling market. On the basis of this information, the first Boretech washing systems for food- grade rPET manufacturing and sheet extrusion were implemented in 2011 at PET recycler Utsumi Recycling. In 2013, there followed a washing system for Taiwanese Far Eastern Group with their first overseas bot- tle-to-bottle factory in Sakai-machi, Senior Vice President Alan Ou GAWiS D featuring AutoJob ™ – job set up in seconds +1.724.482.2163 AGRINTL.COM ACCURATE • FAST • REPEATABLE SEE GAWIS4D IN ACTION Dimensional and thickness measurements for plastic containers and preforms. ®