Extrusion International 3-2022

23 Extrusion International 3/2022  BB Engineering GmbH (Germany), a subsidiary of Oer- likon Textile, announced that Thai Polyester Co., Ltd (Thai- land) has placed a major order for four VacuFil systems for recycling bottle flakes with connected direct spinning. The polyester manufacturer, established in 2001 and with an overall annual capacity of 316,800 tons, is one of Thailand’s leading producers and exclusively uses German technol- ogy. To this end, the company already operates Oerlikon Barmag and Oerlikon Neumag systems. The BB Engineer- ing VacuFil systems will be deployed to convert existing spinning plant equipment from processing polyester to processing PET bottle flakes without loss of performance. BB Engineering supplies the complete recycling process – from the drying stage and extrusion, all the way through to the spinning plant-appropriate fne fltration stage. Thanks to decades of experience in spinning plant technology, the German machine constructor also provides comprehensive spinning plant know-how and is aware of how the recycling process must be designed to ensure that the product manu- factured using the spinning plant ultimately has the right quality. The four new VacuFil systems will be integrated into the existing building infrastructure and process landscape at Thai Polyester, with a total output of approx. 4,000 kg/h. The VacuFil systems will be complemented by BB Engineering 3DD mixers for directly feeding dyes into the recycled melt flow. Commissioning has been scheduled for 2023. Thai Polyester will be using the new VacuFil systems to manufacture its ‘EcoTPC’ recycling-brand yarns. 100% of these polyester yarns are produced from bottle, fber and yarn waste and are all GRS certifed. BB Engineering GmbH www.bbeng.de Four Recycling Systems to Thailand  Solvay and Carbios successfully dem- onstrated that multi-layer PET[1] flms coated with Diofan® PVDC[2] high- barrier polymer are fully compatible for enzymatic depolymerization - Carbios’ innovative recycling process. Results show that the PET is fully depolymer- ized, whereas the PVDC remains intact. Carbios is the frst company to have de - velopedenzymaticprocessesdedicated to the end-of-life of plastics and fbers. The collaboration builds upon the re- sults of an earlier proof of concept by Solvay which has confrmed that waste from packaging or other applications using bi-oriented PVDC multi-layer flm can effciently be recycled without compromising the outstanding barrier performance of the polymer. It aligns with Solvay One Planet's sustainabil- ity ambition to preserve resources and contribute to safer, cleaner and more sustainable products. “OEMs and brand owners are under tremendous pressure to increase the sustainability of their products,” says Guruprasad Sivakumar, Head of Mar- keting for Consumer, Healthcare and Environment at Solvay. “While PVDC has long been used for coating flexible PETflms e.g. in foodpackaging, where it delivers impressivebarrier properties, these multi-layer structures have been challenged regarding their recyclabil- ity. This is where Carbios’ unique recy- cling technology comes as a real game changer. By providing a feasible and sustainable end-of-life management solution, it can help the industry close the loop on PVDC-coated PET flms and extend the value proposition of our high-barrier specialty polymers to further markets, such as the packaging of pharmaceutical products.” The patented recycling process devel- oped by Carbios works with specifc en - zymes tobreak down the PETmolecules back into their constituent monomers. The technology uses moderate tem- peratures, which is ideal in the presence of PVDC, and can be applied to recycle post-industrial as well as post-consumer waste. The resulting monomers could be purifed for reuse in the production of a new PET polymer of the same qual- ity as those derived from virgin petro- chemical feedstock. Notably, the joint study by Solvay and Carbios has demon- strated that PVDC does not jeopardize the depolymerization of PET. “Our enzymatic approach overcomes the limitations of other recycling pro- cesses,” explains Alain Marty, Chief Scientifc Offcer at Carbios. “Con - ventional thermo-mechanical routes require clean-mono-material grade waste, and high-heat chemical or pyro- lytic recycling cannot be used to regain the material value still present in many end-of-life applications. As the indus- try’s frst solution for the recycling of complex multi-layer structures such as PVDC coated PET flms, our enzymatic biological recycling makes a signifcant contribution to help the plastics econ- omy become more circular. The joint study with Solvay also shows what can be achieved by collaborating towards a common goal – to the beneft of all players along the value chain.” Solvay’s Diofan® and Ixan® high-bar- rier polymers have a track record of proven food packaging applications from fresh and processedmeat to fsh, poultry and cheese. They provide a su- perior barrier against the permeation of both water vapor and oxygen – most existing alternatives only meet one or the other purpose – as well as to odors and loss of aroma or flavor. [1] Polyethylenterephthalat [2] Polyvinylidenchlorid Solvay www.solvay.com Carbios www.carbios.com Enzymatic Depolymerization in PET/PVDC Barrier Film Solvay andCarbios demonstrateenzymatic depolymerization inPET/PVDCbarrier film (Photo: Solvay)