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Seeking carbon neutrality, the packaging industry is in the middle of a transition period that aims to replace virgin PET with recycled PET. Sidel is engaging with this transition to circular packaging solutions, enabling r-PET to be more widely used. The unique small-scale PET recycling line will allow Sidel to develop advanced knowledge about the recycling of food-contact PET bottles. As Sidel packaging experts assess the impact of additives and primary packaging materials on r-PET resin the facility will become an important reference for raw material producers, recyclers and recycling regulatory organizations. The line will also enable Sidel to further develop its own knowledge, ideas and innovative packaging solutions.
“There is a big move towards recycled PET, but demand is outstripping supply,” says Naima Boutroy, Sidel’s Global Packaging Expert. “The market still has a lot to learn and we can provide valuable insights. There is a variability in recycled PET resin grades, and standardization is still in development. We need to address this to create the best possible finished bottles. Our line will test the recyclability of post-consumer PET bottles from different feed stocks, including additives and caps as well as labels, inks and glue. We will be working with traditional Sidel customers such as brand owners, converters and co-packers, as well as other suppliers like raw material producers, recyclers and regulatory organizations, to enable the scaling-up of r-PET capacity. We can also check any innovations comply with bottle-to-bottle recycling.”
Sidel’s new line will take raw material from industrial partners such as sorting facilities, recyclers, and brand owners. It will then recreate and study all aspects of the process from bales to flakes including pellets ready to be injected into preform, injection and blow molding.
Sidel will give the packaging industry the opportunity to access a fully equipped pilot line. This line covers every step of the recycling process: from washing, drying and pellet extrusion, to solid-state polymerization, including dedicated process and laboratory controls at every step.
Sidel’s investment in the r-PET pilot line is unparalleled in the packaging industry and will also empower Sidel in shaping the packaging solutions of tomorrow. The line, which has a holistic bottle-to-bottle approach, is just one of a range of services that Sidel is establishing under the name RePETable™ services. The services will draw upon Sidel’s more than 40 years of blowing and packaging expertise, to support brand owners and convertors in producing r-PET bottles through line upgrade solutions, packaging optimisation, blowing process qualification, troubleshooting, r-PET processing training.
