PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2021

PREFORM PRODUCTION PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 04/21 www.petpla.net 20 Voices from industry experts of Alpla and Gneuss A closed loop of PET preforms by Markus Halabi, Guest Author The PET preforms market is booming. So does the circular economy. How does the closed circle of such a product look like and which points does a manufacturer need to factor in if he wants to recirculate its production waste? Our interview partners of Alpla and Gneuss delivering important notes. We talked with Jens Seifried , Global Sales Director at Alpla Group about his view on preform trends, circular economy and ‘green- design’. Halabi: Concerning the PET pre- form market which current trends do you observe? Seifried: At the moment, the over- all objective of the market is to reduce CO 2 emissions. To this end, the local- ised production of preforms and rPET helps to reduce CO 2 emissions by eliminating the need to transport the products. This multi-site approach is one of our major strengths at Alpla. And as a system supplier, we use our rPET in our preforms. Another trend is the increased proportion of rPET content up to 100%. Here we are ensuring the long-term availability. Therefore, we design our products to be optimised for recycling by, for example, pro- ducing them preferably without any colours or additives that are harm- ful to the recycling stream. We offer closed-loop solutions from a single source – from the input bale materi- als of the customer to a climate-neu- tral recycling process, through to the production of preforms. We are also seeing an increase in specialisation through the implemen- tation of separate rPET streams for non-food (e.g. ‘yellow bag’ in Ger- many) and food products, as well as customised rPET solutions for specific applications with properties tailored to the needs of the customer. Finally, measures such as lowering the weight in the neck and base of the preforms, reducing energy and water consumption in processes and an active dedication to recycling around the globe with increased capacities for rPET and rHDPE are trends which we also see in the industry at the moment. Halabi: Regarding the sustainabil- ity goals of the European commission in terms of recycling quotes, how do you handle the recirculation process of PET? Seifried: In our view, the joint target of the European Union, local governments and all market partici- pants involved has to be the estab- lishment of closed-loop systems on a local level. This is the only way to guarantee the highest possible col- lection rates, recyclability and quality of the input bale materials. This will also ensure that as much rPET as possible is being used and offsetting virgin materials. Additionally, logistical efforts must be reduced as much as possible on a local level. Alpla is work- ing hard with all stakeholders involved to support and create solutions in this regard. Halabi: What is your core approach of ensuring a ´green-design´ of your PET products – maybe you have a specific example out of your portfolio? Seifried: Werner & Mertz pro- vides a good example of the use of optimised PET solutions. The family- owned company specialises in clean- ing and care products. They have relied on our expertise for more than 25 years for production of recycled plastics and processing them into bottles for the company’s own recy- cling initiative. Our joint efforts have resulted in sustainable packaging solutions that have received recogni- tion in the form of multiple interna- tional awards. The ‘Frosch’ brand of Werner & Mertz is considered to be an ecological pioneer and develops its products according to the cradle-to- cradle principle. It was the first brand to introduce PET bottles made from 100% recycled plastic, with a certain proportion of rPET from the ‘yellow bag’ recycling system. Halabi: Thanks you for your words. www.alpla.com Andrew Prangnell, Manager of Technical Sales at Gneuss summa- rises the processing of food-contact material, working with post-industrial waste and introduces the Gneuss MRS Extrusion system. Halabi: Gneuss pelletising sys- tems produce high quality pellets which are due to the MRS extrusion process suitable for processing to food-contact products. What are your first thoughts when it comes to PET preforms, clean post-industrial waste, and its pelletising process? Prangnell: When people refer to PET recycling, they usually mean ‘reprocessing post-consumer bottle flake’. This is an area in which we have a great deal of experience, whether PET bottle flake to sheet for thermoforming, to strapping tape, to fibres or bottle-to-bottle recycling. The reprocessing of PET post-industrial is often overlooked and can pre-