Extrusion International 3-2023

28 Extrusion International 3/2023 INDUSTRY NEWS Sustainability and Recycling for Woven Plastic Packaging  Starlinger showed its solutions for the sustainable use of plastic packaging at interpack 2023 in Dus- seldorf/Germany. "Closed loops for plastic pack- aging are not only a prerequisite for counteracting environmental pollution and constantly growing mountains of rubbish, but also to conserve resources," emphasized Angelika Huemer, Managing Part- ner of Starlinger & Co Ges.m.b.H. “Wherever such loops can be imple- mented in a sensible way, it should be done as quickly as possible. At Starlinger, we have been working on solutions to close the loop for woven plastic packaging for a num- ber of years. Our concepts of using recycled PET or polypropylene in the manufacture of big bags and small woven bags are well received by the pioneers in the industry, and we will continue to work on them.” A pioneering project in this re- gard will soon be underway: Us- ing Starlinger technology, big bag manufacturer LC Packaging, PET recycler PRT – a member of ALPLA Group, and Croatian recycler Vele- bit will jointly implement a closed loop for big bags made of polypro- pylene (PP) in autumn 2023. The big bags, which PRT uses for both the transport and storage of the input materials and the rPET granules pro- duced from them, are recycled into rPP pellets by Velebit on a Starlinger recycling plant. LC Packaging mix- es the recycled pellets with virgin material and produces tape fabric which is converted to rPP big bags. The finished big bags are then sup - plied again to PRT. In order to make polypropylene big bags, the most commonly used material for this type of packag- ing, more sustainable, Starlinger provides a pioneering solution for the packaging industry by process- ing recycled PP – also from post- consumer waste – on its production lines. “Starlinger customers are al- ready producing big bags with recy- cled polypropylene. If the quality of the recycled material is good, high proportions of recycled content in this type of heavy-duty packaging, which has to fulfil special require - ments, are no problem,” said Hue- mer. With the technology for manu- facturing big bags from PET as an alternative to polypropylene, Star- linger is able to offer manufacturers in this packaging segment a solu- tion for a completely closed pack- aging cycle. Properly recycled, rPET achieves properties like virgin resin and can be used up to 100% for the production of high-quality packag- ing – see bottle-to-bottle recycling. With Starlinger systems, it is now also possible to produce big bags from 100% recycled PET. Starlinger not only offers produc- tion equipment for woven plastic packaging, but also systems for the recycling and refining of plastics, which are also used in the closed- loop solutions mentioned above. Starlinger recycling technology and Starlinger viscotec play a leading role in the industry with technolo- gies for the production of food- grade PET and HDPE recyclates as well as thermoforming films made of rPET. With the new recoSTAR PET art PET recycling system, Starlinger recycling technology offers an en- ergy-saving and low-maintenance machine concept that produces food-grade rPET of the highest quality and at the same time re- duces production costs by around 21%. In the field of post-consumer recycling, Starlinger's odor reduc- tion technology helps ensure that packaging of consumer goods such as detergent and shampoo bottles can be recycled and reused in the same application, thus avoiding "downcycling". With the viscoZERO melt-phase decontamination reactor, Starlinger viscotec has developed a versatile system that produces recycled PS, PP, PE or HDPE suitable for food packag- ing applications and increases the intrinsic viscosity of PET. Unwanted odours are also effectively removed during the decontamination process. The line processes production waste from fibre and textiles production, skeleton waste, strappings, or post- consumer plastic flakes. The new Starlinger sack conver- sion line multiKON KXservo could be seen in operation at the booth and produced IC*STAR sacks devel- Starlinger technology makes it possible to produce big bags in a closed loop The sack conversion line multiKON KXservo does both – sew and seal. It manufactures IC*STAR® sacks developed by Starlinger at a production speed of 60 sacks/minute (Pictures ©Starlinger)