PET recycling success stories

The VACUREMA recycling technology introduced by Erema of Austria has established a good position in the world market over the past few years, thanks to the positive experiences of many satisfied customers who used Erema's equipment and services (Figure 1). VACUREMA equipment has been available on the market since 2001. The produced rubber pellets (usually made from post-use bottle fragments) comply with the FDA regulations and are therefore applicable to the food and beverage industry.

Since the introduction of this new technology by Erema in 1997, it takes a lot of space to tell the success story of the VACUREMA process. A long list of international PET manufacturers shows that Erema can not only review its years of experience in PET recycling, but also integrate the knowledge gathered in this field into the ongoing development process and provide a separate PET recycling solution. To meet the needs of today's challenges.

In reviewing the past, the most urgent goal was to control the three key challenges in the recycling process: first, cope with the extremely sensitive material's moisture absorption performance; secondly, eliminate the negative effect of oxygen-induced oxidation or yellowing; and third, reduce various thermal effects. To the minimum, and reduce the AA concentration.

In the latest results, Erema integrated these three key factors into VACUREMA technology. The VACUREMA machine can now operate at vacuum levels between 1 and 5 mbar and extremely high temperatures between 215-220°C. As a result of various innovations and optimization measures, there is almost no effect of water, and there is almost no reaction caused by oxygen or thermal influences.

A VACUREMA system used by the Czech company Silon as a main extruder for the manufacture of fibers

The three core technologies of VACUREMA
Manfred Hackl, in addition to other management responsibilities at Erema, is also the PET product manager. He said: “Although the equipment can operate at high vacuum and extremely high temperatures, we may respond to the individual needs of each customer. This is Better than ever.” He compared three separate VACUREMA core technologies based on the material the customer needed to handle. There is a so-called single-step VACUREMA device with a single reactor, which is mainly used in the flat film production industry. If it is necessary to increase the intrinsic viscosity IV value (5 points or more) extremely high, occasionally it will be combined with the subsequent SSP process. Next there is the so-called two-step plant for the "bottle-bottle" recycling field. The first feature is a crystallizer/pre-dryer with or without a vacuum.

The provision of a series of solutions ensures that the customer achieves the desired final result. Hackl explained: "Our product line has been shaped over time to meet the customer's specifications. There are now three different technologies that almost satisfy the customer's wishes."

He pointed out two major uses from the long list of VACUREMA users. About 50% are used for flat film processing, and the majority are used for bottle-bottle recycling applications. There are also a few special uses.

Using the single-step VACUREMA technology, flat film production converts cleaned PET bottle chips, film scraps, stamped plates, scraps and pure PET gel pieces mixed into the melt at any ratio. Then using the subsequent process, it is made into a film or directly into a final product, such as a tool box or an egg carton. Many Erema customers also use co-extruders to produce multilayer films.

The great benefit that customers can obtain from these flat film production processes is that they can use the most cost-effective mixtures based on the existing raw materials on the market. This is due to the excellent flexibility of this technology. Pre-crystallization or pre-drying is no longer necessary. The result is: Significant savings in raw material costs.

For VACUREMA bottle-bottle applications, the washed PET flakes from the used PET bottles can be reused for the production of new bottles. Two-step VACUREMA technology has been used in this process.

Of the 400,000 tons of used PET bottles collected in Europe in 2004, a large proportion was processed using Erema's VACUREMA technology. Here are some examples:

Use VACUREMA technology to produce egg wrappers from 100% post-use bottle fragments

High-quality fabrics from PET bottles
One of Erema's first customers who believed in VACUREMA technology was the Czech company Silon. Silon uses VACUREMA's 160 T-VS model for direct fiber production from bottle debris. The company tested production equipment at the company Erema in Austria and believes that this system has the potential for cost-effective and flexible production of fiber raw materials. The primary considerations regarding the operational reliability of the VACUREMA main extruder were set aside. Immediately after the Erema main extruder was a very large fiber raw material production line supplied by a well-known German company. The production facility has been operating uninterruptedly throughout the day for many years, but was stopped twice a year for regular maintenance. “The example of this company provides impressive evidence of the reliability and durability of our technology in continuous operation. The customer is extremely satisfied. Negotiations on the purchase of a second set of equipment are currently underway,” said Erema. Manfred Hackl, project manager for Silon’s first VACUREMA device, said.


Unique egg packaging
Austria's Ovopet is the first company in the world to use Erema's VACUREMA technology to produce hot-formed transparent egg packaging products directly from 100% cleaned chips in an economical processing step. These fragments were collected by Austrian companies. PET bottle. This project was carried out in cooperation with the company Kruschitz Recycling (which also supplies cleaned debris for production) and Ovotherm. Ovotherm is known for its unique technology in the field of egg packaging and holds patents related to this process on a global scale.

This is the first project in Austria to allow the use of recycled materials that have direct contact with food. In order to be approved, Erema had to work closely and frequently with the relevant Austrian government authorities. This application is the best example of a 100% PET bottle, debris, up to 100% egg package, and it looks to the future.

Also a little bit?

Erema has a good relationship with Switzerland's ITW recycling company and its management team. They received the first two-step VACUREMA device manufactured by Erema with a vacuum crystallizer dryer. The company's general manager, Casper van den Dungen, said that relying on the VACUREMA system can increase the intrinsic viscosity of recycled materials by 4 points. At the same time he is also the president of the European Plastics Recyclers Association and is also the spokesperson for the industry.

Bigger!

In the bottle-bottle recycling field, Erema can also say a lot of the latest significant successes. For example, Germany's Texplast recently ordered another VACUREMA device. According to Texplast management personnel, their first VACUREMA system was smoothly operated after a large number of careful adjustments, and the output of the first VACUREMA bottle-bottle recycling line was fully tapped.

The colloidal particles produced by the company are almost exclusively used to produce PET bottles. It took about two years ago with the help of Erema to take the first steps toward re-pelletizing. Before, they only sold chips.

Flexibility is supported
Snellcore is a typical VACUREMA user. The company, located in the Netherlands, produces film materials and thermoformed parts, starting with the purchase of VACUREMA flat film production equipment. After celebrating the successful start-up of the first production equipment in 2002, a contract for the second VACUREMA flat film production line was signed at the end of 2003. The second VACUREMA production line was successfully launched in the summer of 2004. Both production lines have been added to a variety of hybrid materials, from used bottle fragments and proprietary scraps, to film leftovers, start-up waste from bottle production lines, and pure rubber pellets. This solution enables the most economical input of raw materials to be selected and precisely meets the quality requirements of each end product.

Grow with global customers
VACUREMA users are not limited to Europe. The number of VACUREMA users in Asia (including Japan), North America, and South America continues to grow. One of the many examples is the Plasticos Ecoplast company in Venezuela. This medium-sized plastic recycling company handles 9,000 tons of plastic waste each year. Their initial development was due to the recycling of PE, PS, PP, and PET (crushed material). When they purchased VACUREMA's PET flat film equipment, they decided to produce PET thermoformed sheets in 2002. So since 2003, in addition to re-granulation, they have been able to provide PET thermoformed film semi-finished products to their markets (mainly local customers). The semi-finished materials, not only the production of rubber pellets, brought high value products and greater financial leeway for the company when competing with local counterparts.

According to Luis Roberto Rosa, CEO of Plasticos Ecoplast, they first met Erema at the international exhibition and they were looking for the VACUREMA technology that they showed at the Erema stand. “Erema's PET technology is a fascinating and advanced technology, and Erema sells at a reasonable price. You really have value with your own money,” said Luis Roberto Rosa's praise for his latest investment. Customers are often impressed with the technology's industry-leading flexibility and cost-effective operation. The user can no longer use the external pre-drying and lay down the traditional process of expensive and high-strength maintenance.

Reprinted from: Plastics Industry Network