No.10 2021 www.petpla.net D 51178; ISSN: 1438-9452 30 . 10 . 21 PETplanet is read in more than 140 countries MAGAZ I NE FOR BOT T L E R S AND BOT T L E - MAK E R S IN THE AMER ICAS, AS IA, EUROPE AND AL L AROUND THE PLANET MARKETsurvey Suppliers of fi lling equipment and fi lling inspection systems Page 31 Page 12 Recycling Page 14
The all-new PET-LINE comes with a variety of advantages to maximize output and minimize costs: • Maximum compatibility with legacy molds and PMC • Shortest cycle times for increased output • Lowest level of energy consumption to minimize the ecological footprint • Improved 100 % rPET processing to enable the circular economy • New control unit including Smart Operation to ensure easy, fast and safe start-up and production More details on www.netstal.com
No.10 2021 www.petpla.net D 51178; ISSN: 1438-9452 30 . 10 . 21 PETplanet is read in more than 140 countries MAGAZ I NE FOR BOT T L E R S AND BOT T L E - MAK E R S IN THE AMER ICAS, AS IA, EUROPE AND AL L AROUND THE PLANET MARKETsurvey Suppliers of fi lling equipment and fi lling inspection systems Page 31 Page 12 Recycling Page 14
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imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Vangerowstraße 33 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 info@hbmedia.net EDITORIAL Kay Barton Heike Fischer Gabriele Kosmehl Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Anthony Withers WikiPETia. info petplanet@hbmedia.net MEDIA CONSULTANTS Martina Hirschmann hirschmann@hbmedia.net Johann Lange-Brock lange-brock@hbmedia.net phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 LAYOUT AND PREPRESS EXPRIM Werbeagentur | exprim.de Matthias Gaumann READER SERVICES Till Kretner reader@hbmedia.net PRINT Chroma Druck Eine Unternehmung der Limberg-Druck GmbH Danziger Platz 6 67059 Ludwigshafen, Germany WWW www.hbmedia.net | www.petpla.net PETplanet Insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualifi ed subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ subscription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identifi ed as trademarks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net Dear readers, A lot in this issue revolves around PET recycling. When we included the topic in the planning last year, it was not clear to us how vigorously the topic is now being discussed not only in the professional world, but also by politicians and citizens. In Germany, for example, the big discounters Lidl and Aldi have created their own closed loop for recycling PET bottles. In addition to recyclable material recycling, chemical recycling is constantly being touted. “The chemical processing of plastic waste is actually old hat in the industry and yet it keeps on cropping up. At the moment it is hyped under the label of chemical recycling,” reports Dr Dirk Textor, chairman of the bvse-Fachverband Kunststoffrecycling. He believes that “chemical recycling is a new greenwashing campaign by the European plastics industry that should not be allowed to go through.” It is undisputed, he continued, that recycling is the better method. Chemical recycling is CO2 intensive. If we look at PET waste streams: the majority of the bottles arrive at the plant sorted by type, or can be sorted by type, so that they are suitable for recycling. Depending on the quality of the collection and the country, more or fewer PET bottles are left that have been thermally recycled up to now. Be it coloured bottles, be it multilayer bottles, etc. Here chemical recycling can defi nitely be a better alternative to incineration. For Dr Dirk Textor designing the packaging directly for recycling is certainly a viable option for general plastic packaging, but the advantages of the PET bottle, light, CO2-saving, and safe for some products can only be achieved through barrier layers. Stay well. Yours sincerely, Alexander Büchler
PETcontents 4 PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net 10/2021 Page 23 EDITOUR 12 Kick-off European Road Show 2021, Part 2 MATERIALS/RECYCLING 14 Seamless and resource-saving recycling of PET bottles - Interview with Christian Strasser, CEO of PET to PET Recycling Österreich GmbH 18 Bottle-to-bottle recycling line at Srichakra Polyplast in India 20 PET diamonds for the Indian market 21 Test installation validates new techniques for plastic recycling 23 “The demand for rPET is increasing” - Producing food contact compliant rPET 24 The sorting challenge - Dry recyclables and light packaging 26 Direct PET processing - Economical and FDA-compliant recycling of PET fl akes 28 Tomra Recycling opens new test centre in Italy PREFORM PRODUCTION 35 Tried and tested for new uses - Preform range for hand sanitiser applications and cosmetic products MOULD MAKING 37 More of less - Moldintec claims its NoLabel PET bottle helps brand owners develop new visions for “iconic assets”. CAPS & CLOSURES 38 Swing-top PET bottle MARKET SURVEY 31 Suppliers of fi lling equipment & inspection systems EVENT REVIEW 40 Flexibility, the PET industry’s way forward - 19. GSI PET Day 2021 42 Plastic Recycling World Expo review BUYER’S GUIDE 56 Get listed! INSIDE TRACK 3 Editorial 4 Contents 6 News 50 PET bottles for Beverage + Liquid Food 52 PET bottles for Home + Personal Care 54 Products 55 Patents 62 Outer Planet RECYCLING Page 14 Page 38
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PETnews 6 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net U.S. plastics industry trade improves in 2021 after 2020 pandemic slump The Plastics Industry Association released its annual Global Trends report at the 27th Fakuma International trade fair for plastics processing. The report, which analyses trade data from all of 2020 and the fi rst six months of 2021, paints a complex but promising portrait of the U.S. plastics industry in the international market. For those around the world interested in the American plastics market, the global trends report and its accompanying dataset provides a comprehensive account of U.S. plastics exports to and imports from around the world in each of the four categories of the plastics industry – resin, products, machinery and moulds. According to the report, Mexico and Canada remained the U.S. plastics industry’s largest export markets. In 2020, the industry exported $13.7 billion to Mexico and $11.7 billion to Canada, maintaining its largest trade surplus - $8.2 billion - with Mexico. The coronavirus pandemic caused the merchandise trade to decline. In 2020, total U.S. plastics industry exports fell 8.2%, and imports were 1.8% above 2019. The report found that the U.S. plastics industry had a trade defi cit of $5.5 billion last year. For many years, the plastics industry enjoyed a trade surplus, which in 2019 was $727 million. Last year, the U.S. had an $18.6 billion surplus in resin. The U.S. plastics industry had a $15.3 billion defi cit with China - the third-largest export market of the U.S. plastics industry. However, the U.S. had a $3.0 billion trade surplus with China with resin. China is still the world’s largest resin buyer and a large importer of U.S.-produced resins. The 2021 Global Trends report also explores a broader international view of plastics, covering production, consumption and more details of important trading partners for the U.S. It also discusses apparent consumption, a broad measure of the domestic market size. U.S. apparent consumption of plastic products fell marginally by 0.1% to $288.4 billion in 2020. “Although the merchandise trade outlook is much brighter this year, uncertainties remain and depend largely on global economic recovery. While the U.S. plastics industry trade volume rose 27.9% in the fi rst six months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, it still has a plastics trade defi cit,” said the association’s Chief Economist Perc Pineda, PhD “The large and growing plastics industry outside the U.S. will continue to compete with the U.S. for overseas markets as well as for their own domestic markets.” Canada and Mexico will continue to be the two largest export markets and are also the top sources of U.S. plastics imports. Proximity matters. The manufacturing sector’s supply chain in these countries was strengthened with the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). The updated free trade pact, United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), should further enhance trade among the three countries, which is important particularly as global manufacturing is experiencing supply chain diffi culties. The 2021 complete Global Trends report is available to download for free for members and is available for purchase to non-members. www.plasticsindustry.org Matthias Hermle hands over the CEO position of IMD Ltd. to Marc Wymann Marc Wymann will take over as the new CEO of IMD AG on November 1, 2021. After a transition period of three months, he will take over the executive lead from company founder, Matthias Hermle. Matthias Hermle will then focus on the strategic area of IMD Ltd. and CAPrint Ltd. as active Chairman of the Board of Directors and support innovations. IMD Ltd. is in a good position, stable and ready to grow further. After more than 25 years in the lead of IMD Ltd., the perfect time has come for Matthias Hermle to hand over into new hands and take care of the strategic area. He will actively support the management in order to align IMD Ltd. well for the future in the medium and long term. He sees a lot of potential in approaching innovations differently. With Marc Wymann, he has found a successor who fi ts perfectly into the IMD family. With his passion for technology and sales, a fl air for employee management, business know-how and a backpack full of management experience, he is ideally equipped to lead the IMD family into the future together with the well established management team and the employees. “I’m not coming to turn everything upside down, I’m coming to support and develop what already exists», tells Marc Wymann about his goals. During his introduction period, he fi rst wants to get to know the company with all its employees, customers, processes and all the other exciting facets and understand how the market works. His main goal is to continue the company, which has been successfully built up over the past 25 years, in the spirit of the company’s founder, to optimise where reasonable and to break new ground where appropriate. www.imdvista.ch Matthias Hermle (left) hands over the CEO position of IMD Ltd. to Marc Wymann (right). The company owner and founder, Matthias Hermle, will focus on his role as active Chairman of the Board of Directors of IMD Ltd. and CAPrint Ltd.
7 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net Carbios launches industrial demonstration plant for its enzymatic recycling technology Carbios, a company pioneering new enzymatic solutions to reinvent the lifecycle of plastic and textile polymers, announced the offi cial opening and launch of an industrial demonstration plant operating with its enzymatic recycling technology, C-Zyme, which was installed on the Cataroux site in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The demonstration plant marks the culmination of the development of the C-Zyme technology. It will allow the validation of the enzymatic PET recycling process’ technical, environmental, and economic performance, as well as the design of future industrial units. By the end of 2022, its operation will enable the complete engineering documents for the process (Process Design Package) to be drawn up for the building and operation of a 40,000 t/a capacity reference unit as well as future factories to be run under licensing agreements. The optimisation of the operating parameters as well as the production of the monomer batches are now carried out by a team of ten people. An initial hydrolysis has been successfully realised, confi rming the upscaling of the process. The C-Zyme recycling process uses an enzyme capable of depolymerising PET which is found in a variety of plastic and textile items. The depolymerised monomers are purifi ed before being repolymerised into PET of comparable quality to virgin PET derived from petrochemicals. Unlike traditional methods, Carbios’ breakthrough enables unlimited recycling of all sorts of PET waste (clear, coloured, opaque, complex plastics, polyester textiles) as well as the production of 100% recycled and 100% recyclable PET goods that maintain their virgin quality throughout the process. www.carbios.com New launch of the PET returnable bottle in Austria Austria’s market leader in the mineral water market, Vöslauer Mineralwasser GmbH, is concretising its plans to relaunch the fi rst and so far only PET returnable container in Austria. “In Austria, PET reusable containers were common until the 1990s, but they disappeared from the shelves completely due to a lack of demand. The change in consumer behaviour, but also the improved technological conditions in the meantime, make a new generation of PET returnable products possible that fi t into today’s world and are an ecologically sensible addition to our product range,” explains Herbert Schlossnikl, Managing Director of Vöslauer. “To this end, we are investing around seven million euros in new plants, despite economically challenging times,” adds Birgit Aichinger, Managing Director of Vöslauer. In the fi rst quarter of 2022, Vöslauer will launch Austria’s fi rst returnable PET bottle in the fl avours sparkling, mild & plain, with more to follow in the future. The current 9×1 l rePET twoway deposit bottle will be completely replaced with the new solution. “Amajor advantage of the new returnable PET bottle is the reduction of the CO2 footprint by up to 30% compared to our existing deposit containers,” says Schlossnikl. The lightweight PET returnable bottle also comes with 90% less weight compared to the glass returnable bottle. “This is an unbeatable advantage in handling, logistics and for the end consumer,” emphasises Aichinger. When it is launched on the market, the PET returnable bottle will have a recycled content of 30 %, which is to be continuously increased. The PET monomer material used is also 100% recyclable and the labels are also made of 100% recycled material. “We aim for 12 cycles for our returnable PET bottles and thus also the Austrian Eco-label,” explains Schlossnikl. A bottle is thus expected to be in use for around three to four years and saves around 80% of material over this period. Calculated in tonnes, that is about 400 t/a of material, which corresponds to a CO2 equivalent of 420 t. The reusable crates manage at least 50 cycles. www.voeslauer.com GAWiSD 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. ®
8 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net First products granted RecyClass recycled plastics certifi cation RecyClass recycled plastics traceability certifi cation was granted to the first products covering both flexible and rigid, as well as food and non-food applications. The certification attests the inclusion of recycled plastics in products containing between 10-100% of recycled content. With the growing pressure to demonstrate to consumers that products are genuinely circular manufacturers, brand owners and retailers are increasingly looking for a reliable and transparent certification. The RecyClass certifi cation is destined to all actors in the plastics value chain, beyond packaging, for virtual ly any plastic product. It attests to the physical traceability of recycled plastics as described in EN 15343:2007, following a controlled blending chain of custody approach ISO/IEC 22095 where origins of plastic waste are verifi ed starting with the recycler and moving up the value chain. The certifi cation allows as well for an adequate determination of the share of the post and pre-consumer plastic. Nine companies were granted the RecyClass recycled plastics traceability certifi cation include: Alpla with 89% post-consumer recycled content in PET bottle in Germany; Selenis Portugal S.A., certifying the use of 30 and 50%of post-consumer recycled content in PET compounds in Portugal. Silvalac, S.A., certifying the use of 20, 30, 50, 60, 75, and 95% recycled content (both pre-consumer and post-consumer) in fi lms in Spain; Macresac, S.A. with 30, 50 and 70% of post-consumer recycled content in fi lms in Spain; Mornos S.A. with 30% pre-consumer recycled content in LDPE bags in Greece; Neemann LIteFlexPackaging, certifying the use of recycled plastics in fi lm bags 23, 40, 60, 80% post-consumer and 20, 40 and 50% pre-consumer in Germany; Versalis S.p.A. with 10 and 35% postconsumer recycled in expandible polystyrene in Italy; Sleever Technologies with at least 30% post-consumer recycled plastics in PET shrink fi lms for shrink sleeve labels in France; Colpack S.r.l. certifying the use of both at least 60, 95, 98, and 99% recycled plastics in garbage bags from the postconsumer origin and the use of at least 87, 92, and 97% mixed pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled plastics in garbage bags as well. The certified products come from all over Europe including Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, France, and Spain, further certifi cations are presently ongoing also in, among others, Belgium and the UK. Meeting consumer demand for transparency and verifi ed claims remains high on the agenda of the plastic value chain as the target of placing 10 million tonnes of recycled materials on the European market by 2030 is approaching. With the aim of increasing the robustness of theAudit Scheme, the organisation is currently in the process of being accredited under the ISO 17065 standard. www.recyclass.eu Plastics Recycling Show Europe announces conference programme The Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE) conference programme has been published ahead of the event’s return to the RAI Amsterdam, The Netherlands on November 4-5, 2021. The latest trends in the plastics recycling sector will be explored in depth throughout the free-to-attend two-day event, providing a holistic view of the whole plastic recycling value chain and drawing together political leaders, major brands, recyclers and the plastics recycling and manufacturing industry. Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries at the European Commission will deliver the opening keynote updating delegates on the latest political and legislative developments in plastics recycling in Europe. Additional speakers in the opening session entitled Making plastics fully circular – what’s next? are Ton Emans, President of Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) and Peter Goult, Associate at Sytemiq. Prominent speakers from major brands at the plastics recycling conference include: Thor Tummers, External Affairs manager at Unilever Eelco Smit, Sustainability Leader at Philips Domestic Appliances Gian De Belder, Technical Director – R&D Packaging Sustainability at Procter & Gamble Anne Guillou, Sustainable Packaging & Product Development Manager, L’Oréal Ermis Panagiotopoulos, Sustainability Director at Natural Mineral Waters Europe Materials focus sessions on the fi rst day will explore the challenges, issues and opportunities within the sector for mechanical recycling, covering PET, PVC, technical plastics and PS recycling. In the PET session, Ermis Panagiotopoulos covers PET: EU legal obligations on rPET & beverage industry’s actions. In the PVC session Charlotte Röbber, Managing Director, EPPA presents Circular Economy in action – Implementing Collection and Recycling schemes for Windows in Germany, France and Poland. Topics covered in the Technical Plastics and PS session include: Plastics recycling in domestic appliances Sustainable plastics solutions; and The future of food contact and low carbon footprint: Circular Polystyrene. The second day’s opening session recyclability and recycled content: how to make it happen? is chaired by Paolo Glerean, PRE Board Member and Chairman of RecyClass. The following polyolefi n material focus sessions will examine the current status of polyolefi n waste streams including LDPE and HDPE. In the LDPE sessions Mik Van Gaever, COO, FostPlus looks at recycling of flexible household packaging in Belgium. A highlight of the HDPE session is expected to be Thor Tummers, External Affairs Manager at Unilever with accelerating the transition for a circular economy for packaging with all stakeholders. The conference concludes with a fi nal session looking at PP recycling. The hybrid event will allow people unable to visit the event in person to view elements of the two-day conference programme via livestream including the welcome address, keynote speeches and sponsored as well as the announcement of winners of the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe. Online-only visitors will also be able to interact directly with exhibitors. www.prseventeurope.com
9 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net
10 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net Tethered caps industrial trial In recent months Arol has been cooperating with CocaCola, together with several closures manufactures, in the validation process of the new GME 30.40 CSD (carbonated soft drinks) PET fi nish, both at laboratory level (c/o Arol premises) and at industrial level (c/o CCEP production line in Barcelona plant Spain). GME 30.40 (CETIE code) PET fi nish is the fi rst international standard specifi cally developed for tethered closures to be compliant with SUP EU Directive. The industrial trial at the CCEP Barcelona plant involved the production of more than 6 million sellable bottles 500ml size closed with new 26/22 CSD tethered closures. The directive requires the lids and caps of single use plastic (SUP) bottles and composite packaging with a capacity of up to 3l to remain tethered to the containers for as long as they are used. For the changeover to tethered caps, Arol is working with packaging manufactures and bottling line manufactures to minimise the impact of the changes. The company states that in most cases, a simple chuck cones replacement in the equipment will be enough to run these new caps. www.arol.com Fakuma 2021 review The 27th Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing celebrated a restart in Friedrichshafen from October 12-16, 2021. 1,470 exhibitors from 39 countries came to Lake Constance for the fi rst major international on-site event for the plastics industry this fall, and presented injection moulding, extrusion technology, thermoforming and 3D printing on a world-class level. Overall emphasis was placed on the issues of sustainability, circular economy and recycling. After the compulsory one-year hiatus, the event on 85,000m2 of overall exhibition fl oor space. The fact that 40% of the exhibitors came from outside of Germany substantiates Fakuma’s signifi cance all over the world, especially in these exceptional times. “I’m delighted that something like this is possible again,” said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Bastian, Institute director of the SKZ in Würzburg, at the trade fair’s opening ceremony. In his technical presentation to an auditorium full of trade press and guest listeners, he pointed out impressively what needs to be done in the industry: “We have to take more responsibility for what happens with plastic.” Martin Bastian made a passionate plea for the cause of plastics. The exhibition halls in Friedrichshafen were very well frequented right from the fi rst day of the event. Interested expert visitors were able to gain an impression of the latest developments and perspectives for concrete solutions in the fi eld of plastics processing. www.fakuma-messe.de/en Alpla acquires BTB PET-Recycling The Alpla Group, a global packaging solutions and recycling specialist, is acquiring BTB PET-Recycling based in Bad Salzufl en, Germany. The company turns used PET bottles from Germany’s reverse vending system into recycled material which is then predominantly used for the production of new beverage bottles. Its bottle-to-bottle packaging cycle is a closed loop. In acquiring BTB PET-Recycling GmbH & Co. KG, Alpla is investing in further developing the region’s recycling loop. Bottle-to-bottle BTB pre-sorts, shreds and washes the input material, then sorts it again. It is then melted down in an extrusion process and turned into pellet form, resulting in valuable food-grade rPET. The processing volume is around 20,000 t/a of PET bottles. The company has approximately 35 employees, all of whom will be kept on by Alpla. Georg Pescher, Managing Director of Alpla in Germany, says: “By acquiring BTB, we are investing in a very structured company which has been operating successfully within the local circular economy for years and which is already supplying our preform business in Germany with rPET. What’s pivotal here is a functioning system comprising a bottle return infrastructure, bottle production and bottling companies in the direct vicinity of the recycling plant.” The parties signed the contract on September 28, 2021. They have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or any further details. Expansion of recycling activities Just recently, Alpla and its partners announced the founding of the joint venture PET Recycling Team Targu Mures for the recycling of post-consumer PET bottles in Romania. The target is annual production of 15,000t of food-grade rPET to strengthen the local materials cycle in Central and South-Eastern Europe. In the UK, Alpla has been cooperating with the British waste management company Biffa since this year and sources food-grade rPET pellets from the Biffa recycling plant in Seaham. With this collaboration, Alpla is increasing the proportion of British recyclate used to manufacture packaging in the UK. In early 2021, theAlpla Group announced that it would invest an average of 50 million EUR/a until 2025 in the ongoing expansion of its recycling activities. In particular, it plans to globalise its activities in the area of high-quality recyclates in order to close the materials cycle in as many regions as possible. In all, the annual capacity of the Alpla recycling companies, joint ventures and partnerships amounts to approximately 130,000 t of PET and 60,000t of PE. www.alpla.com
11 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net
EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net 12 Tour Sponsors: Kick off European Road Show 2021 Part 2 In the run-up to our European Road Show, we asked the 2nd group of our sponsors and experts from the whole PET value chain about topics that are currently relevant: 1) PETplanet’s latest Roadshow takes a critical look at the European market, which is picking up steam this year after pandemic-related slumps. How has the pandemic affected your business and what are your expectations for the coming months? 2) The European PET bottle market is on the move - not least due to the potential impact of various EU directives. Which of these are particularly relevant for your company and how are you placed to meet them? 3) What future challenges do you see for the PET industry? Mr Carsten Lurz, Vice President Sales, Service & Marketing at MHT 1) The pandemic defi nitively affected our business due to the fact that our customers faced a high degree of planning uncertainty. In this t ime, we received a g r owi ng numbe r o f requests regarding spare parts and overhauling of moulds. Moreover, travel limitations, home office r egu l a t i ons and l ock downs all over the world had a crucial infl uence on the way of interaction with our business partners as well. Nevertheless, the year 2020 was an acceptable year in terms of sales fi gures under the given circumstances. 2) The implementat ion of the EU approved tethered caps directive will change our business as a mould manufacturer. We expect an up-coming high demand of new preform designs including the thread area. With a recent ly instal led ful ly automated manufacturing line for neck-rings in our factory, we are well prepared for this new directive by a drastically increased output capacity. The close and strong cooperation with our parent company Krones in PET preform-/bottle-design enables us to provide our customers with an excellent support on this fi eld. 3) The on-going plastic bashing will redefi ne the questions and discussions around the topic PET bottle and the use of recycled PET in the next few years. As part of Krones PET recycling circle, we act with social responsibility. Accordingly, to optimise the preform and bottle weight in order to reduce the PET consumption will be in our focus. Moreover, we will strive to offer our customers digitalisation service solutions as this is an essential tool for the future. In conclusion, I´m convinced that the PET bottle will not lose its importance for the beverage industry, but light-weighting and recycling will become more mandatory. www.mht-ag.com Mr Dario Previero, General Manager at Previero N. Srl - Sorema 1) During the pandemic, we had to follow all the safety procedures in order to safeguard the health of our workers. Nevertheless, our industry got the permission to continue its activity and that enabled us to never stop providing services for our customers and, in the meantime, to pursue the negotiations for new projects. Since the demand for recycled polymers is always very strong, the medium-long term prospects for this industry are positive, especially for companies like us that produce and sell recycling plants. 2) For the PET bottles sector, the most important EU directive is the one concerning the single-use plastics which has placed very specifi c objectives for the amount of both the bottles to be collected and the rPET content to use in the production of new bottles. 3) To achieve the goals imposed by the new directives on the circular economy, the future challenges affect all the industrial chain. The fi rst challenge is to improve the communication between the parties involved so that a better design for recycling can be obtained and the volumes of collected material, which are not always suffi cient to meet the EU criteria, can be increased (on average, of course, some European countries have already reached these targets). The second challenge will be a technological one. As a matter of fact, it should be important to reach a high level of technology in all the recycling chain, in order to be able to produce recycled polymers with the requested quality and quantity. www.previero.it
EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net 13 Mr Thomas Schmidt, Group Marketing Director at Bericap Holding GmbH 1) As with most other businesses, the pandemic has of course impacted our daily way of working internally as well as with our business partners. From a business point of view, we were facing opposite developments in demands resulting from different consumer and customer behaviours: whereas the out-of-home related smaller volume beverages segment collapsed, the demands from hygiene and food sectors by far exceeded the production capacities. We have already experienced a return towards pre-pandemic levels over the last months but only the future can tell us to what extend the pandemic has changed consumer behaviour and market segments in the long term. 2) For Bericap, as one of the leading manufacturers of caps and closures for the beverage, food and industrial sectors, the EU single use plastic directive 2019/904 (SUP) defi nitely has the highest impact. The conversion of the European beverage industry to tethered caps by 2024 is truly a challenge; starting from technical product requirements and consumer preferences via closure production, testing, approvals and equipment, scaling up to customer fi lling line trials, approvals and market introductions. Besides several approved solutions on hand, we see that our ClipAside tethered cap offers the most robust and consistent per formance across all relevant neck fi nishes with minimum changeover cost for our customers. A key argument for many of our customers is the fl exibility that the slitted TE band offers to their tethered cap project. Our customers can start preparing and testing their lines today based on a tethered cap shell with standard TE band, and once they are ready with their market preparations it is only a change of the slitting geometry with no impact to the prepared lines. 3) Several studies prove the signifi cant environmental advantages that the PET bottle offers compared to potential alternative materials especially when kept in the recycling loop. Some of the major future challenges go beyond the PET industry’s immediate scope, such as a necessary shift in the political, public and consumer opinions and establishing the appropriate infrastructures, certifi cations and re-collection behaviours across the world. The immediate challenges of the PET and related industries are to optimise PET and rPET materials (usage of rPET and PCR material), designs (e.g. light weighting), processes and technologies (e.g. chemical recycling) which further improve the usage and recycling of the PET / PE materials. www.bericap.com
MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net 14 RECYCLING Christian Strasser, CEO of PET to PET Recycling Österreich GmbH, on toxic trends in the raw materials market and how to ensure consistent material quality over the long term in the circular economy. Seamless and resourcesaving recycling of PET bottles by Gabriele Kosmehl Pandemic-related lockdowns have changed beverage consumption, working conditions and the market for secondary raw materials. The recycling industry has also been greatly affected by economic developments. Nevertheless, thanks to coordinated efforts and strict adherence to its pandemic plan, the Austrian PET to PET Recycling company has not only managed to maintain a high volume of PET bottle recycling but even invested in plant expansion. Christian Strasser, CEO of PET to PET Recycling Österreich GmbH, tells us the secret of his success. PETplanet: At the beginning of August, you drew a positive interim balance for the fi rst half of 2021: 14,048 t PET beverage bottles were kept in the resource cycle. How did you manage this despite the special challenges posed by the Corona pandemic? Strasser: The fact that we were able to maintain production and even achieve record levels of performance is mainly due to three factors. Firstly, having a detailed pandemic plan tailored specifi cally to production operations, including extremely strict hygiene measures and rapid Covid testing, enabled us to ensure the safety of our workforce. Secondly, the Austrian beverage industry continues to play a pioneering role in the use of recyclates in new PET bottles which has helped our sales. And thirdly, we are continually growing our business through on-going system optimisation, as well as expanding our facilities in the interests of the circular economy. PETplanet: Have you noticed any pandemic-related changes in the last year, such as a different consumption of beverages or a change in the way consumers return empty bottles? And if so, have all the changes now settled down again? Strasser: Major changes did indeed occur during the pandemic. If we look at consumer behaviour, it is clear that the partial disappearance of hospitality, tourism and limited leisure opportunities also resulted in a sharp decline in the use of small bottles. On the other hand, the number of large-volume packaged varieties, which are mainly sold via retail outlets, has grown strongly. The change in demand has also caused huge upheaval in the raw materials market. Primary raw material prices have fallen sharply, while at the same time, there has been high demand in the secondary raw material market, with a corresponding lower volume of bottles. This year in particular, prices for bales and the recyclates to be produced from them have risen to unprecedented levels. In some cases, we have a situation where secondary material is being traded at almost twice the price of primary raw material. The term unhealthy is not suffi cient to characterise this state of affairs - for a shift towards a circular economy a more appropriate word would be toxic. I would characterise the behaviour of customers in relation to the separate collection of bottles as consistent even though there is great potential for a further increase in the amount collected. PETplanet: What development do you expect for the second half of 2021? Strasser: The situation has improved as a result of the lifting of many restrictions. However, we will probably not be able to speak of normality for some time yet. The best outcome would be expecting sales fi gures to be similar to those of 2020. Christian Strasser is CEO of the PET to PET recycling plant, which went into operation in 2007. (Photo: Andi Bruckner) Dipl.-Ing. Christian Strasser (photo: Eva Kelety)
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MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net 16 RECYCLING PETplanet: During the pandemic, work was cut back and tightly managed in many companies. You, on the other hand, expanded. Can you please briefl y explain what investments you have made and what might be next on the agenda? Strasser: Increased demand for resource-saving recycling prompted us to invest in expanding our facilities despite the Covid crisis. This involved extending the outdoor and storage areas and increasing production capacity with a second granulation plant, which can produce 2 t/h of food-grade PET recyclate. An additional label removal system prior to wet washing helps in improving the cleansing process. In addition, the silo facility for washed flakes was expanded as a storage unit before food-grade processing. With these investments, we have not only ensured the seamless and resourcesaving recycling of PET bottles but also created eight additional jobs. PETplanet: From which area do you obtain the bale goods that are processed by you? Strasser: The demand for recyclable PET bottles is very high throughout Europe. These recyclates can be used in all applications, even if high-quality recycling is no longer possible afterwards. Therefore, PET to PET must also source bottle bales from all over Europe, as far as transport costs will allow. PETplanet: How long does a process take from the fi rst processing step of the baled goods to the compounded rPET ready for delivery? Strasser: The recycling operation takes 10-12 hours, depending on the process used. Two different techniques are used to convert PET bottles into PET flakes or PET granules. One plant thoroughly washes PET flakes using patented URRC (United Resource Recovery Cooperation) technology while in the second, PET is melted down and processed into granules. This produces quality that meets the highest food standards. PETplanet: In the EU, an average of 25% rPET content in bottles will become mandatory from 2025, with some brands pledging themselves to 100% rPET. In your eyes, what is the most appropriate recycled content ratio to ensure good material quality in the long term? Strasser: Many manufacturers have increased recyclate usage rates in recent years, with new bottles now being produced from 100% recyclate. It ultimately all comes down to the average value that is fi xed on the market as a whole. As is readily apparent, a 100% closed loop for all bottles is neither realistically achievable nor sustainable. Based on previous experience, we believe a sensible recyclate usage rate of 50% on average is reasonable in order to ensure consistent material quality over a long period of time. This includes very ambitious quotas of 100%, as well as very low ones of less than 30%. The average value that emerges on the market is relevant in all this. PETplanet: When Europe switches to 25% rPET initially and 30% rPET from 2030 onwards, the demand for food-grade material will also continue to increase. Can you imagine opening more locations? Strasser: Such options cannot be ruled out but there are currently no specifi c plans to do so. In any case, further expansion of the bottle-to-bottle cycle of the PET beverage bottle will require additional capacity for high-quality recycling plants. PETplanet: Which “design for recycling” aspects, implemented in PET bottles, would make your work easier - or which additives, colourants, material combinations… are the most challenging to recycle? Strasser: Any change or modifi cation to the molecular structure of PET is problematic. This applies both to PET bottles, sorted by colour and pressed into large bales. One bale weighs about 250 kg and contains around 10,000 PET bottles. (Photo: Andi Bruckner) PET to PET recycles bottles from all over Europe. (Photo: Andi Bruckner)
MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net 17 MATERIALS / RECYCLING 17 PET to PET Recycling Österreich GmbH was founded in April 2006 and is operated by leading companies in the Austrian beverage industry. Today, the 53,000m² site is claimed to be one of the most modern PET recycling plants in the world. In 2010, a granulation plant was added to the recycling plant in Müllendorf. This was followed in the following year by the start of the new automatic bottle sorting stage and the installation of a silo plant, both of which were expanded again in 2017. In 2018, the PET to PET in-house laboratory was expanded, and in 2020 the handling areas and the granulation plant were extended. www.pet2pet.at additives and, especially, to foreign polymers that change the material’s properties. In particular, if the added substances are thermally overloaded at PET processing temperatures, the optical and mechanical components are severely compromised. Last but not least, all elements used to manufacture and confi gure a beverage bottle must meet the criteria for full recyclability. PETplanet: In 2009, Austria took PET returnable bottles off the market. Now the mineral water bottler Vöslauer has announced that it will revert to returnable PET bottles from 2022. How do you assess this changeover and does it affect you as a recycling company? Strasser: Based on studies which show that the disposable PET beverage bottle when combined with a closed bottle-to-bottle cycle has the same ecological impact compared to the returnable glass bottle and that only a returnable PET bottle is better for the environment, I see the impact being relatively minor and would expect a slight decrease in returnable glass bottles. PETplanet: Thank you very much Mr Strasser. Sorting station (photo: Andi Bruckner) E N D L E S S I N N O V A T I O N S I N C E 1 9 1 9
MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net 18 Bottle-to-bottle recycling line at Srichakra Polyplast in India The well-established Indian recycler commissioned a PET bottle-to-bottle recycling line from Starlinger by mid of September. With the new line Srichakra Polyplast upgraded its facilities and now offers the highest grade of recycled PET to customers in India and international markets such as Europe and the United States. RECYCLING Srichakra Polyplast, a leading plastic recycling and waste management company based in in Hyderabad, invested US$10 million (€8.6 million) for upgrading and expanding its plastics recycling capabilities. The new RecoStar PET 165 iV+ features technology for processing post-consumer PET bottle fl akes approved by the US Food and Drug Administration authority (FDA) and is the fi rst of its kind Starlinger has installed in India. The produced rPET pellets are suitable for food-contact and can be used for food and beverage packaging like bottles for water and carbonated soft drinks, food trays, etc. at levels of up to 100% recycled content. With this technology upgrade, Srichakra is now able to provide premium foodgrade quality rPET for food packaging. In addition to the new PET bottleto-bottle recycling line the company also installed a Starlinger recycling line for post-consumer polyolefi n packaging with odour reduction technology. New life for local plastic scrap “Our approach at Srichakra is focused on using leading-edge technology to create reliable, high-quality materials that help brand-owners reduce their use of virgin plastic”, said Ravindra Venkata, CEO and Cofounder of Srichakra Polyplast. “The new world-class technology not only enables us to produce food-grade quality recycled plastic for customers, but also gives locally-sourced plastics a new life, preventing it from entering the environment. We’re proud to be the fi rst in India to achieve this standard and continue our work towards making the world a better place by cleaning up the environment.” Elevating plastics recycling standards in India According to the UN Plastic Waste Management Programme India, only one fourth of the country’s plastic waste is currently recycled. The recycled materials themselves are generally not high quality, which results in low levels of re-usage. With the newly installed equipment, Srichakra produces high-quality recycled plastics that can be used to substitute virgin resin. This way, the company contributes to the development of a sustainable plastic waste management model in India. „Srichakra Polyplast is a pioneer of the circular economy in India, and we are proud to be their technology suppliers”, said Paul Niedl, Commercial Head of Starlinger recycling technology. “With the new Starlinger PET bottle-to-bottle recycling line with SSP treatment they have expanded their scope of products now into the important fi eld of food-grade rPET. With their high-quality products Srichakra Polyplast is going to set new standards for the Indian plastics recycling industry.” www.recycling.starlinger.com Founded in 2010, Srichakra Polyplast (India) Pvt Ltd is a leading plastics recycling and waste management company based in Hyderabad, India. The company produces premium PET and polyolefi n fl akes and regranulate from plastic waste and specialises in offering high-quality recycled products in large volumes for the packaging industry. To help brand owners reduce virgin plastic use, Srichakra is constantly striving to improve, resulting in the development of its technically advanced bottle-tobottle solutions and food-grade recycled pellets. For ten years, Srichakra has championed the transformation of locally sourced plastic waste and strives to divert plastic from the ocean and encourage the advancement of the circular economy. www.srichakra.in The Starlinger PET bottle-to-bottle recycling line at Srichakra’s production facilities in Hyderabad produces rPET for food-grade applications. A new life – used PET bottles become new bottles again.
MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 10/21 www.petpla.net 20 PET diamonds for the Indian fl ake market India is one of the rare countries where the estimated bottle collection is in the range of 80-90%. This is probably one of the highest in the world. There is an informal organised system in place since the last 20 years. Due to the weight of each bottle, there is a reasonable value for collection. The major challenge in plastic waste is segregation at source. If waste is properly segregated into different categories, almost everything can be recycled or put to a better use. However, a large percentage of the plastic waste generated still ends up in landfi lls or in water resources. It will be a much cleaner and greener world, if 100% of our plastic waste is given a new life and a new value. If we, as responsible global citizens, want to leave this world a better place for future generations, then we have to take a proactive stance to buy sustainable products, ethical brands, clean up the beaches and be mindful of where and how to dispose of products. This gives hope for a better future, where there is no “waste” but just another life for the material. The Mumbai-based company AeroFibre is in its third generation of plastic waste business. In the late 80s, the family-owned business started in the recycling and processing of PET industrial waste. In 2008, AeroFibre commissioned the fi bre recycling plant to further process the industrial waste. “After completing my graduation in UIUC, I decided to join the family business in 2009. I was excited about the recycling of polyester waste and was elected to head this business. In 2017, we commissioned a stateof-the-art recycling plant that has the capacity to process 18,000mta of hollow and hollow conjugate fi bre. We are the fi rst company in India to have two German bottle sorters in our wash-line. Our main focus was to enhance the quality of fl akes which will result in higher fi bre quality,” stated Director Mr Ankit Jain. In 2021, the company realised that there was an increasing demand for high quality fl akes for bottle-to-bottle and bottle-to-fi lament segments; and there was a paucity of good quality PET fl akes in the market. To fi ll this gap, Aero Fibres installed an advanced laser sorting machine from Germany to process fl akes which are as clean and consistent as diamonds – hence the brand is called DiamondPET Flakes. The DiamondPET fl akes provide a consistent high purity value of fewer than 100 ppm. “We create this with the help of dual automatic bottle sorters, manual sorting as well as a fi nal check with an automatic laser sorter. Just like high pressure makes diamonds, we employ heat washing and pressure sorting to make diamonds out of trash,” Mr Ankit Jain explained. He continued, “We have a team that is 150 strong today who work on three shifts to produce PET fl akes that are of precise and consistent quality. We have installed an effl uent treatment plant to reuse and recycle all our water used in the PET fl ake production. Our plant qualifi es as a zero liquid discharge site. We also generate a portion of power needs via solar power. Our goal is to produce high value products from plastic waste. To that end we want to process as much of the by-products generated while processing the PET bottles – from segregating caps and wrapper, we now wash and produce granules that can be made into injection moulded products like crates and other items.” The goal for AeroFibre is that they want to produce the best value for their customers, treat team as family and give back to the communities that the company is a part of. AeroFibre believes in doing well by doing good. “Hopefully, one day in the near future, we will be part of the reason India will be able to recycle 100% of plastic waste, creating value from waste.” www.aerofi bre.com RECYCLING
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