Austrian recycling company PET to PET Recycling Österreich GmbH has installed another Starlinger bottle-to-bottle recycling system including SSP (solid state polycondensation) reactor at their production site in Müllendorf.
Austria-based recycling specialist significantly increases capacities for food-grade rPET
PET to PET recycled around 1.13 billion PET bottles in 2020, and was able to increase throughput by 7.3% despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
General Manager Christian Strasser said: “It is also thanks to the new Starlinger pelletising line that PET to PET is one of the most modern facilities in PET recycling worldwide. Since the foundation of the company, we ensure that PET bottles in Austria are continuously recycled in a resource-saving way.”
The recoSTAR PET 165 HC iV+ bottle-to-bottle recycling system is the second line from Starlinger in operation at PET to PET. The produced regranulate can replace virgin PET at a rate of 100 per cent, according to Strasser: “The high quality of the recyclate is especially important to us. The Austrian beverage industry is continually increasing the share of recycled content in new PET p.ackaging. Some of the producers even use bottles made of 100 per cent secondary raw material.”
The solid state polycondensation in the viscoSTAR 180 SSP restores the mechanical characteristics of the recycled PET and increases the intrinsic viscosity to the level of virgin material. The PET recyclate is thus food-safe and can be used for food packaging such as beverage bottles.
Paul Niedl, Head of Sales at Starlinger Recycling Technology, said: “Our customers all over the world appreciate the fact that we have been building up our know-how on PET and bottle-to-bottle recycling in-house for more than 25 years and continue expanding it based on our experiences. From extrusion to decontamination to refinement – and here I mean food safety – of recycled PET we can provide substantial support to our customers in all areas. Especially concerning food-grade regranulate, there is no compromise.”
