EVENT REVIEW PETplanet Insider Vol. 25 No. 06/24 www.petpla.net 28 Food-safe rPET on the increase, now also in the textile industry The production of food contact compliant rPET is becoming increasingly important in Asia - and it is now extending its importance to the textile industry. Erema is at the forefront, meeting the strict food safety standards of European and North American authorities, and adhering to the specifications of global brands. The growing PET industry in Asia and Africa is driving demand for PET recycling solutions. At Chinaplas, Erema featured systems tailored for direct food contact, with the central element being the proven Vacurema technology. These PET systems are operational worldwide, utilising technologies like Vacurema Basic, Advanced, Prime, MPR, and Vacunite. The key feature of Vacurema machines is the SafeFlake technology in the vacuum reactor, which integrates decontamination, drying, and intrinsic viscosity (IV) treatment. By pre-treating PET flakes under vacuum at the correct temperature, moisture and contaminants are removed before extrusion, preventing any hydrolytic and oxidative degradation of the melt. This is claimed to ensure high-quality rPET pellets, even if input material parameters like moisture, mixture, or bulk density vary. Vacurema Prime is a version of the process where two crystallisation dryers immediately upstream from the vacuum reactor operate in batch mode alternately – also in vacuum – to decontaminate the material. IV is increased via Solid State Polycondensation (SSP) on the flake, with the system boasting a low specific overall energy consumption of 0.295 kWh/kg, making it energy efficient compared to conventional PET processing lines. Legal requirements and commitments from major brands are driving a significant increase in the use of recyclate in PET bottles. Erema’s Vacunite system addresses the challenge of producing high-quality output from lower-quality input material. In collaboration with Polymetrix, the Vacurema process includes vacuum-assisted SSP in a nitrogen atmosphere. This dual safety decontamination process, 41-"4) 1300'&% BOE XBTIBCMF MBCFM BOE DMPTVSF JOTQFDUJPO TPMVUJPO 888 */53"7*4 $0.
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