Germany – Food group Stute Nahrungsmittelwerke is to install its first closed-loop PET recycling line at a new beverage plant. German recycling equipment manufacturer Krones is supplying the system, based on its SuperClean PET flake process, in the sixth venture of its kind globally but the first on home soil.
The line will produce 500kg of rPET flakes an hour. A decontamination module, able to reprocess bottles that have already come into contact with product, will be positioned alongside existing injection moulding machines.
Stute said it had been looking for a closed-loop cycle ‘right from the start’ as part of its environmental strategy, and had chosen Krones because of its simple approach to PET recovery and production. It was claimed to be one of the few manufacturers able to provide a complete system from container feed right through to the finished, decontaminated flakes, eliminating any interfacing difficulties. ‘The process washes and decontaminated the rejected PET, thus guaranteeing its suitability for future food-grade operations,’ the company added.
Krones commented: ‘The sector is still living under the Damocles sword of a politically inspired additional deposit on non-returnable PET. This extra burden may be evaded only by a relatively high proportion of recyclate, as the PETCycle system goes to show.’
The SuperClean line is scheduled for delivered this August and was described as the beginning of a long-term alliance between the companies.
For more information, visit: www.krones.com
Don't hesitate to contact us to share your input and ideas. Subscribe to the magazine or (free) newsletter.
Loading ...
