31 TRADE SHOW REVIEW PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 12/21 www.petpla.net CHT Group at PRSE in Amsterdam PETplanet Insider talked with Dipl. Ing. Sebastian Laux, Global Business Development Engineer Recycling Solutions at CHT Group PETplanet: After a long time, the PRSE show was one of the first presence events. What did you expect from the show? And were your expectations fulfilled? Sebastian Laux: Our expectations were more than fulfilled. We initially expected less participants this year, due to the ongoing uncertain situation in the world. However, participation of visitors and exhibitors was above expected and we had a lot of first engaging contacts, as well as new interesting R&D projects which made in our eyes the PRSE show a success. We primarily wanted to take the chance to exchange in detail with our existing and new customers. Secondarily, we also wanted to use the time for discussions with other stakeholders of the value chain to see how we all can contribute in the future to higher quality recycling. Due to the limited time, we will have further exchanges about the new projects after the exhibition, which is already a great start. PETplanet: Recycling is one of the most important factors in the large field of sustainability. Where can you find the CHT Group in this field? Sebastian Laux: CHT initiated sustainability projects many years ago. This resulted, for example, in the award of the “Responsible Care Mittelstandpreis” of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) in 2018 and 2019. In general, this topic guides both the corporate vision: “The CHT Group, the preferred partner and leading reference for sustainable chemical solutions in our markets” and the supporting mission: “With smart chemistry, we make our contribution to sustainability”. Furthermore, the newly created position of “Chief Sustainable Officer” and the nomination as an important pillar of the Strategy 2025, show that sustainability is energetically considered as a strategy. In addition to a fundamental CO2 reduction, the use of recycled raw materials and biodegradable products as well as the expansion of the recycling business are strongly to be promoted in the “Sustainability Roadmap”. In PET recycling, we have been supporting our customers for more than 13 years with individual formulations and strong technical support to make their processes more efficient and at the same time save important resources such as energy and water and to protect the environment. Decisive for the utilisation of the recycled PET are a processing as pure as possible as well as an optimal cleaning. Additionally, our efficient auxiliaries used in the recycling process, Tubiwash, Tubifoam and Tubiwet are biologically removable from the wastewater and therefore do not pollute the environment. Besides this, we offer products for an efficient wastewater treatment and support the further process steps of the recycled material, e.g. antisticking for film and bottle production, antistatics for fiber production. We as CHT Group contribute in different ways to a circular economy and a more sustainable future. PETplanet: What are the news or planned projects in the field of PET processing at CHT? Sebastian Laux: There are many interesting and challenging projects waiting for us and our partners. As the news inform us with high frequency about the last-minute recycling regulations from politics and new recycling goals of brands and associations such as Petcore, Plastic Recyclers Europe, EuPC and Ceflex, we need to adapt quick to the fast changing market requirements to be able to support the value chain with innovative solutions that allow their fulfilment. The requirements on a deinking process of PET packages or a delamination process of composite products including PET are two examples of the new projects which create new requirements compared to the well-known PET bottle recycling process. PETplanet: What do you think are the current and future challenges of PET recycling and how will CHT support recyclers? Sebastian Laux: I think we need to work on different situations such as education, infrastructure (collection & sorting) and technology. The earlier we start, the better. Additional to the whole plastic and recycling value chain, politics take a key role in preparing the infrastructure and guiding us, as consumers, to a smart circular economy. Consumers need to know the benefits of recycling PET packages, how to do it and why PET is in many cases more sustainable for packaging products than paper or glass. So far, the political decisions are often taken from emotions influenced by social trends, resulting in regulations that would have come to more sustainable solutions with the proper support of experts. Fruitful collaborations between politics, brands and experts from the plastic recycling industry will lead to though-out innovations, especially for new products like e.g. composite products, which do not yet have standard recycling solutions. We, as CHT Recycling Solutions, will keep supporting these developments with our expertise and advanced innovative process solutions based on a strong exchange with the PET recyclers and machine suppliers. Our cleaning solutions will be more important than before, regarding the new requirements and challenges in the PET recycling. Needless to mention that we already actively contribute to a sustainable average usage rate of 50% rPET in new products. www.cht.com
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