Extrusion International 4-2023

52 Extrusion International 4/2023 RECYCLING – CASE STUDY ered and installed during the third quarter of 2023 and is planned to take up production by the end of the year. Like all Starlinger plastics recycling systems, this bottle-to-bot- tle recycling line is characterised by very energy-efficient operation, also due to de use of an underwater pelletising system. Compared to strand pelletisers, underwater pel- letisers consume considerably less energy, especially when used in combination with a downstream SSP process. Fur- thermore, the investment costs and operational expenses for the recycling company are lower. With the additional production capacity, DUYTAN Plastic Recycling will increase its reprocessing capacity to 60,000 tons of plastics per year, which equals about 4 billion post-consumer plastic bottles. Currently, DUYTAN Plastic Recycling operates two PET recycling lines from Starlinger with a yearly production capacity of 30,000 tons of food-contact rPET pellets. The Starlinger PET recycling process meets the standards of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The produced rPET can be used at shares of up to 100 % for high-qual- ity PET bottle preform production. To ensure a continu- ous supply of input material, DUYTAN Plastic Recycling has created a plastic waste collection network with more than 100 collection points all over the country. In 2022, the facility recycled over 1.3 billion domestically collected plastic bottles. DUYTAN Plastic Recycling sup- plies the produced rPET not only to large FMCG compa- nies in Vietnam, but also exported 4,200 tons to Europe and the US in the past year. DUYTAN Plastic Recycling Co. Ltd. www.duytanrecycling.com Starlinger recycling technology Furtherstr. 47a, 2564 Weissenbach, Austria www.recycling.starlinger.com The first two Starlinger recoSTAR PET bottle-to-bottle recycling lines are in operation since 2021 and produce rPET that meets the standards for food-contact packaging of the US FDA and European EFSA (©DUYTAN) The Future Needs Experts – Plastics Recycling in Romania The Romanian recycling business Expert Recycling offers numerous services around the disposal and recycling of post-consumer and post-industrial plastic waste. A W5.18 single-shaft shredder fromWEIMA is used for processing PET, PP, PS, PE, DHPE and PELD material streams. With its help, the company produces high-quality regranulates, films, and waste bags, which it then sells itself. N owhere else in the European Union is so little waste produced annually per capita as in Romania. Also true is that the country's recycling rate is only just ahead of Malta, which is in last place. Expert Recycling, located two hours north of Bucharest, has recognized this need to catch up since it was founded in 2007 and, accord- ing to its own figures, has processed over 7,000 tons of waste to date. Achieving the Zero Waste goal with strong partners The circular economy is the focus for Expert Recy- cling. Together with strong partners, the Zero Waste ideal goal for Romania is to be achieved. Owner Dan Ana explains how: "We want to make an important contribution on the way to a circular economy. One person's waste