PET bottle recycling solution for Indian packaging firm from one source

For Indian preform and plastic packaging manufacturer Magpet Polymer Pvt Ltd, machine makers Coperion and Herbold Meckesheim are collaborating technologies in construction of an entire plant for bottle-to-bottle recycling from a single source. In addition to mechanical processing of used PET bottles, the recycling system encompasses all process steps leading up to extrusion with a ZSK twin screw extruder, including pelletising and an SSP (Solid State Polycondensation) reactor

This PET bottle recycling system is designed for a throughput of 5,500 kg/hour. It will deliver PET recyclate that is approved by the European Food Safety Administration (EFSA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for direct contact with food. Moreover, the PET pellets manufactured on this bottle-to-bottle line are brand owner approved.

Magpet awarded the contract for the entire system to Coperion and Herbold Meckesheim, operating companies of Hillenbrand, as they have optimally coordinated their technologies and realised efficient plastic recycling solutions, according to Coperion.

Coperion’s and Herbold Meckesheim’s bottle-tobottle plants enable all recyclates to be processed together, even if they exhibit different IV (Intrinsic Viscosity) values or fluctuating bulk densities. What is more, the Coperion-Herbold solution saves on operating costs, logistics costs, and energy consumption in comparison to conventional PET recycling processes.

The bottle-to-bottle recycling system first processes the PET bottles into flak es. For this purpose, Herbold uses granulator s with forced feeding and washing system technologies that gently process the PET to minimise material loss due to fines formation and thus maximise yield.

This preprocessing is followed by conveying and feeding into the ZSK recycling twin screw extruder. There, the PET regrind is gently melted, intensively disper sed, and processed into a homogeneous mass. The ZSK’s twin screw technology efficiently transfers the energy into the melt. Thanks to the twin screw extruder’s high 18 Nm/cm³ torque, the PET’s residence time in the extruder is short. Processing takes place at low temperatures, polymer chain degradation is minimal, and the product quality achieved is high. Volatile components such as monomers, oligomers and water are removed from the melt and purged.

Following discharge from the ZSK recycling extruder, the still-warm material stream is transferred via a gear pump to an underwater granulator and an SSP reactor, where it is then condensed and decontaminated.

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