Starlinger lines now at 3 locations of rPET giant CarbonLITE

A Starlinger recoSTAR PET recycling line for food-grade rPET pellets

Austrian Starlinger recycling technology will deliver PET recycling lines with a total installed capacity of 5.4 tons/hour for CarbonLITE's new site in Pennsylvania at the end of the year. CarbonLITE is a major producer of food-grade rPET who already operates Starlinger recycling lines at its locations in Riverside and Dallas.

CarbonLITE expands its PET recycling operations with a third plant in Pennsylvania. The site will be equipped with Starlinger recoSTAR PET recycling lines which have a combined throughput of 5.4 metric tons/hour and will process the washed and sorted flakes into food-grade rPET. The lines will cover the whole range of PET material streams, from clear PET flakes and colored flakes up to the recycling of PET fines (small particles that are a by-product of washing and grinding).

After delivery of PET recycling lines to CarbonLITE's plants in Riverside, CA, and Dallas, TX, this is the third cooperation between the two companies. "With the first two installations in California and Texas, we have earned CarbonLITE's trust in our technology," says Paul Niedl, Commercial Head of Starlinger recycling technology.

The new facility will have an annual capacity to convert more than 2 billion post-consumer bottles; full production is expected to commence in early 2020. The addition of the Pennsylvania plant will bring the total number of bottles recycled by CarbonLITE up to 6 billion per year. The company's main customers are major beverage producers who are looking to secure recycled material in close proximity to their bottling facilities in the region. Being able to purchase rPET from a local source allows brand owners to increase their use of recycled materials and lower the carbon footprint of their beverage bottles.

About Starlinger

Starlinger recycling technology is a division of Austrian-based Starlinger & Co. GmbH, world market leader in the field of machinery and complete lines for woven plastic packaging production. For more than 30 years Starlinger recycling technology has been providing machinery solutions for the recycling and refining of a wide scope of plastics such as PE, PP, PA, PS, BOPP and PET. Starlinger PET recycling systems produce food-safe rPET and are approved for use in food applications by many brand owners as well as various national and international authorities.

About CarbonLITE

CarbonLITE is the largest producer of food-grade post-consumer recycled PET in the world. The company specializes in processing used plastic bottles into bottle-grade PET resin flakes and pellets that can then be used to manufacture new plastic beverage bottles and other products. CarbonLITE currently operates plants in Riverside, CA (opened in 2012) and Dallas, Texas (opened in 2017), to supply some of the world's major beverage brands. It currently processes around 4 billion used bottles annually (200 million pounds) to create a 120,000-ton-per-year carbon footprint reduction.