The world's first XTREME Renew Flakes to
Preform System, which directly produces new, food-grade 100% rPET preforms from
recycled PET flakes in a single process step, was recently presented with a
World Star Packaging Award in Prague.
EREMA, SIPA, Kyoei Industry and Suntory,
four companies involved in developing the system, are delighted to receive the
award for this unique example of a closed plastic loop.
The World Star Packaging Award recognizes
outstanding packaging solutions from around the world. And that is exactly what
the recycling machine manufacturer EREMA achieved in cooperation with SIPA, the
Italian manufacturer of PET packaging solutions, as well as the plastics
recycling company Kyoei and the beverage company Suntory, both based in Japan.
Four pioneers successfully bundle their
know-how
The joint development of the process was
initiated in 2014 by Kyoei Industry and Suntory.
The award winning process is based on the
combination of EREMA's proven VACUREMA bottle to bottle technology which has
been enhanced for this application with SIPA's XTREME Renew Preform Production
System.
This plant network produces new, food-grade
PET preforms directly from PET flakes. Having now been in operation at Kyoei
Industry in Kasama (Japan) for almost a year, the Flakes to Preform System not
only outputs preforms with impressive quality values, but also delivers unique
ecological and economical performance.
The annual production capacity of this
plant is 300 million containers. The customer for this output is the
internationally active Japanese drinks manufacturer Suntory.
The VACUREMA part of the plant decontaminates
the flakes and increases the viscosity of the input material, which is then
melted and filtered. The food-grade melt is then fed directly into the XTREME
injection moulding machine supplied by SIPA.
With this system, a further melting process
(i.e. the melting of the rPET pellets, which is necessary in conventional
processes) is no longer required. This in turn eliminates the risk of yellowing
and the formation of volatile organic compounds. Bottles made from these
preforms therefore differ significantly in their appearance to other 100% rPET
products.
"If the quality of the washed flakes is
right, the inline preforms don't need to shy away from being compared to
injection-moulded virgin products," says Christoph Woess, Business
Development Manager for the bottle applications at EREMA.
Beneficial in both ecological and economic
terms
The combination of four process steps -
decontamination, IV stabilization, melt filtration and injection stamping - in
one system reduces energy consumption by 30% compared to conventional systems.
CO2 emissions are also reduced by 25% and are therefore significantly lower
than with conventional PET bottle production from rPET raw material.
Since no rPET-Pellets are produced,
additional dryers and storage areas are no longer necessary, resulting in lower
costs.
"Our cooperation shows that combining
the expertise of plastics recycling companies, machine manufacturers and brands
makes a functioning circular economy possible", say the people
representing the four participating companies, pleased about the successful
implementation of this award-winning project.
2019-09-24