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. ®
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