Extrusion International 2-2020

22 Extrusion International 2/2020 INDUSTRY NEWS NewSKZ Inspector active for theMiddle East/NorthAfrica Region Khaisar Syed, Technical Manager at the Abu Dhabi location of the SKZ Plastics Laboratories Middle East LLC, has successfully completed his qualification as an SKZ Inspector for pipe systems. Syed was qualified as an inspector in accordance with the SKZ’s internal requirements and can nowofficially be employed at the SKZ’s accredited inspection site as an inspector for the external monitoring of pipe systems. His first independent inspection trip took him to the pipe and fittings manufacturer Bahrain Pipes BSC in Salmabad, Bahrain. As part of the audit, Syedwas able to present the customer with a certificate for 10 years of successful collaborationwith the SKZ. “We are very pleased that Mr. Syed has successfully completed his further training and is now available to the SKZ as an inspec- tor for the Middle East / North Africa region,” emphasized Dr. Jürgen Wüst, deputy managing director of the testing division. “The inclusion of neutral and independent bodies in the qual- ity assurance sector for plastic products is becoming increasingly important worldwide. The SKZ as an accredited testing labora- tory, inspection body and certification body takes the tasks of quality assurance and external monitoring very seriously in the interest of end users, and accounts for this development by training expert inspectors, ” continuedWüst. Khaisar Syed has been working as an engineer for the SKZ in Abu Dhabi since 2014 and received a Master of Business Ad- ministration degree in 2018. He also successfully completed his training as a certified welder and certified welding supervisor for PE pipes in accordance with DVGWworksheets GW330 and GW331. Report 1 highlights new trends in PET collection and sorting A strong trend towards the use of recycled PET (rPET) due to increased demand is projected in the report by sustainability consultancy Eunomia, done in collaborationwith EFBW, Petcore Europe and PRE. Significant improvements have been made in recycling process- es and with the increasing quality of materials, rPET could reach as much as 55%of total PET demand by 2030. This is particularly evident for food-grade rPET used in bottle-to-bottle processes, where incentives such as the producers’ voluntary pledges and rPET content targets set in the EU Single Use Plastics Directive (25%by 2025) are set to further accelerate the production. Themarket for trays and sheets, which currently absorbs 20%of rPET, is also considered in the report. It is estimated that the av- erage recycled content of PET trays produced in Europe is 50% and this trend is set to continue. Main obstacles identified are collection and design for recycling. To achieve the 90% EU separate collection target for beverage bottles andmeet the expanding demand, well-thought-out and harmonised collection schemes must be implemented with the help of local and national authorities. In parallel, a common ap- proach to recyclability and product design must be established. Initiatives such as EPBP 2 andRecyClass 3 have laidout the ground, providing a common direction for the industry towards improv- ing packaging recyclability. Furthermore, increasing trust and traceability of the recycled materials by building on schemes such as EuCertPlast 4 and aim- ing to establish an EU-wide certification for recycled materials would ensure the optimal uptake of rPET. The industry must continue to work with policy makers and value chain partners to meet EU targets, in order to succesfully establish a circular economy for PET in Europe as we all have a role to play via design for recycling, efficient collection, sorting and state of the art recycling. 1 PET Market in Europe: State of Play. Production, collection and sorting data. Eu- nomia. 2020. 2 https://www.epbp.org/ 3 https://recyclass.eu/the-platform-about/ 4 https://www.eucertplast.eu/ Closing the Loopwith PET – Bottle-to-Bottle Recycling Projected to Grow SKZ Dr. Jürgen Wüst, j.wuest@skz.de EFBW www.efbw.org Petcore Europe www.petcore-europe.org Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) www.plasticsrecyclers.eu Khaisar Syed (left, in a black suit) presents the company Bahrain Pipes BSC with the certificate for 10 years of cooperation with the SKZ