Extrusion International 2-2022

40 Extrusion International 2/2022 RECYCLING – CASE STUDY MENA PET Recycling Giant Signs Contract for New Recycling System Based in Giza, Egypt, the biggest PET bottle-to-bottle recycler inMENA region is expanding and upgrading its existing plant with another Starlinger PET recycling system and an additional solid-state-polycondensation (SSP) reactor The new recycling system, a reco- STAR PET 215 HC iV+ including a vis- coSTAR 350 SSP reactor, reaches an output of 2700 kg/h and will enable BariQ to increase its total production capacity to 35,000 metric tonnes of food-grade rPET pellets per year. The viscoSTAR 350 SSP reactor – the biggest size of the latest reactor generation – provides extended processing capacity and residence time while it keeps the footprint of the new recycling line compact like the fi rst Starlinger PET recycling line BariQ installed in 2012. BariQ will also upgrade its existing Starlinger recoSTAR PET 165 iV+ re- cycling line with a new melt fi lter for fi ne fi ltration and an additional SSP reactor. This setup not only increases The contracts for the new equip- ment were signed during a ceremo- ny held on February 13, 2022, at the BariQ plant. Members of the man- agement of INTRO, the parent com- pany that acquired BariQ in 2021, and BariQ explained details of the company’s sustainability strategy and drivers for the plant expansion in presentations during the event. The expansion is planned to be fi - nalized in 2023. According to BariQ, the high vari- ability of the input material and the rising quality requirements of the customers are the biggest chal- lenges the company has been facing since it started operations in 2012. BariQ sources its post-consumer bottles mainly from local collection and GCC countries. As bottle quality and decontamination vary greatly, the recycling equipment must be able to handle such demanding conditions in order to achieve top rPET quality and meet customer re- quirements. the line’s output, it also allows the production of rPET types beyond the regular bottle-to-bottle grades, guar- anteeing best decontamination re- sults and 24/7 production of rPET with highest quality speci fi cations. BariQ’s investment also includes the latest sorting equipment from TOMRA Re- cycling to ensure optimum quality of the input material. The new facility will complement a recycling plant that has been fully operational since 2010 and features 4 of TOMRA’s sensor- based sorting systems that process more than 3 tons of PET bottles per hour. To date, the company produces an annual amount of 15,000 tons of food-grade rPET that is compliant with the standards set by EFSA, FDA, Health Canada and REACH. Andreas Pechhacker, General Manager Starlinger recycling technology, Mostafa Khairat, CEO BariQ, and Tasos Bereketidis, Sales Director EmergingMarkets at TOMRA Sorting Recycling, signed the contracts for the plant expansion (©BariQ)