Material / Recycling PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 12/21 www.petpla.net 13 MaTERIAL / RECYCLING 13 all single-use plastics are the same. PET bottles are ideal for recycling and the associated circular flow, which is not the case with disposable plastics such as cotton buds. Our work is influenced by the fact that the demand for rPET for the food and beverage industry has increased significantly and development potential can be deduced from this. PETplanet: How do you feel about the statement of the big brands from the beverage and packaging industry to produce their products from 100% rPET by 2025/30? Rimmer: In general, we find the goals of the big brands exemplary, but there is currently not enough rPET capacity. The Europe-wide structures for collecting PET bottles are lacking. We would currently recommend the production of beverage bottles from recycled material in the range of 50-75% so that there is no shortage of rPET resources and all brands can meet or even exceed the legal requirements. Should the situation in Europe change with regard to the deposit system, we see the use of 100% recycled material in PET bottles as quite realistic in the future. PETplanet: What is your position on chemical or monomer recycling? Rimmer: In general, we see chemical recycling as another possibility for recycling, as pyrolysis technology is used to recover a secondary material from the plastics. However, this process tends to focus on plastic waste that can no longer be mechanically recycled for technological, economic and ecological reasons. For example, contaminated plastics, waste fractions from different types of plastics that can no longer be sorted. In the future, it will be important that manufacturers of packaging and PET bottles work together with plastic recyclers so that the packaging is produced in such a way that recycling is economically and ecologically feasible. A combination of mechanical and chemical recycling would be optimal, so that plastics made of different types of plastic can also be recycled. This could significantly increase the recycling rates of plastics and thus contribute to a stronger circular economy. In the case of beverage bottles, on the other hand, mechanical recycling works very well and is also significantly cheaper than chemical recycling. PETplanet: My final question: Where do you see RCS in ten years? What are your strategies for the company in the field of plastics? Rimmer: We see a clear development potential in the future, especially in plastics recycling. In the future, we will not only recycle PET bottles, but also by-products such as closures or other types of plastic in general. With regard to the topic of sustainability, we would also like to develop further with photovoltaic systems on roofs and systems that correspond to the latest state of the art. We are also thinking, for example, of alternative drives such as hydrogen-powered trucks. PETplanet: Thank you so much! www.rcs-entsorgung.de/en www.erema.com www.sacmi.com Product design Product development Product validation Industrial production plant Process & quality control On-site and start-up assistance After-sales and Customer service SACMI 4.0 THE COMPLETE CLOSURE, PREFORM AND CONTAINER SOLUTION FOR YOUR SMART FACTORY ENDLESS INNOVATION SINCE 1919
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