Extrusion International USA 5-2021

10 Extrusion International 5/2021 INDUSTRY NEWS wireSouthAmericaandTUBOTECHwill not takeplaceuntil 2022 „ Brazil is still suffering badly from the consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic – there is no thought of opening prospects for trade fairs and other major events. Therefore, the organizers of wire South America, Cipa Fiera Milano and Messe Düsseldorf, have de- cided to cancel the trade show for 2021 and postpone it toOctober 25-27, 2022. The concurrent TUBOTECH, International Trade Fair for Tubes, Valves, Pumps, Fittings and Components, will also be postponed to thisnewdate.Originally,wireSouthAmericawas tobeheldOctober 5-7, 2021, at the Sao Paulo Expo Exhibition&Convention Center. www.wire-south-america.com www.tubotech-online.com „ It is aworld premiere: school milk in Upper Austria is nowpack- aged in 100 % sustainable cups made of recycled PET (rPET). The joint project of Austrian school milk producers and the three Up- per Austrian companies PET-MAN, Greiner Packaging and Star- linger viscotec is revolutionizing the food packaging market and proves that a sustainable circular economy is possible. Every day, around 36,000 children in Upper Austria are supplied with fresh school milk products. “To carry through the origin idea of the regional and sustainable product to the packaging, we thought about how to make it so that the cups are 100 % recyclable and reusable,” explains Markus Neudorfer, Managing Partner of the sheet manufacturer PET-MAN. The solution is a white cup made from 100% rPET. The bene fi ts of this material are obvious: it is lightweight, un- breakable and plasticizer-free, making it ideal for school kids. However, rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) is far more than conventional plastics. “The new rPET cups consist of 100 % recycled, unprinted rPET monomaterial and can be recycled over and over again into 100 % food-grade cups,” says Alisa Schröer, responsible for Circular Economy projects at Greiner Packaging. Recycling the cups requires less energy than reprocessing reus- able glass, for example, and produces less waste. The school milk farmers take the used cups back with their next school milk de- livery. This results in over 30 % less CO 2 emissions compared to reusable glass bottles. “The cups are collected, washed and shredded. The shredded material, known as fl akes, are then cleaned and processed us- ing viscotec technology. This rPET material will again be used to make cups for food packaging,” explains Herbert Hofbauer from Starlinger viscotec. As a result, many tons of packaging waste are avoided every year. The entire production and re- cycling loopof the school milk takes place in Upper Austria. The cows graze on local pas- tures and the fresh milk is bottled directly by the school milk farmers and delivered to the schools. “Thanks to the partnership with the three Upper Austrian companies PET-MAN, Greiner Packaging and Starlinger viscotec, we can now provide a sustainably packaged school milk to the kindergartens and schools produced exclusively in Upper Austria,” states Johannes Strobl, farmer and chairman of the Up- per Austrian school milk producers. Children should be made aware of the sustainable use of nature as early as kindergarten and school age. By using the 100% recy- cled rPET cups, they learn that plastic is not just plastic andmakes it a big difference, whether packaging is simply disposed or can be recycled over and over again: the closed recycling loop of the valuable material makes recycled PET a material for the future. It is interesting to know that recycled PET is currently the only post-consumer secondary plastic that is allowed to be used in food applications in the European Union. The school milk pack- aging made of rPET can therefore be recycled again and turned into food packaging, making it THE recyclable packaging for dairy products. The visionary project has been nominated for the following awards: Green Packaging Star Award 2021 and TRIGOS 2021, Austrian award for responsible business, in the category „Exem- plary project”. www.rPET-cup.com PET-MAN GmbH www.petman.at Starlinger viscotec www.viscotec.at Greiner Packaging www.greiner-gpi.com After their use, the cups are returned for recycling Recycled PET in a Closed Recycling Loop The rPET cup revolution: the cups are recycled into new cups over and over again in a closed loop