Tomra Sorting developed Sharp Eye because the percentage of thermoforms in PET bottle bales has been increasing. | Courtesy of Tomra.
PET thermoforms bring special baggage to the recycling process: Optical sorters often fail to differentiate them from bottles, and thermoform flakes are more prone to breaking into fines.
The Herbold Meckesheim SMS 20017 is particularly suitable for material streams with size irregularities.
The latest SMS Series granulator from Herbold Meckesheim is billed as a perfect fit for challenging applications, particularly those requiring high throughput capacities.
A pelletizing and melt delivery equipment company opened a lab in North Carolina, and a U.S. thermoforms company begins using sheets from resin made partly through a PET depolymerization process.
Most shrink-sleeve labels pose challenges for PET bottle recycling, but recycling-friendly innovations were recently recognized by the Association of Plastic Recyclers. | Jared Paben/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Three shrink films for PET bottles and a collection of label inks have passed recyclability reviews by the Association of Plastic Recyclers.
Three major manufacturers announce they’ll use PET, PP and acetate produced via chemical recycling processes, and Procter & Gamble begins putting digital barcodes on bottles to aid in sorting.
The Maquire WSB 1200 can achieve throughput of up to 4,500 pounds per hour.
Maguire Products has introduced a series of gravimetric blenders tailored for large-throughput applications.
The FDA recently approved a recycling process that allows post-consumer HDPE at up to 100% in new products including milk and juice bottles. | Val Lawless/Shutterstock
Erema Group got the go-ahead to use its technology to recycle HDPE into food and drink packaging and foodservice wares. Meanwhile, other companies got federal green lights for PET recycling.
Holli Alexander of Eastman Chemical said collection unknowns are part of the current chemical recycling landscape. | Plastics Recycling Conference / Brian Adams Photography
When it comes to development and commercialization of chemical recycling technologies, interest is high. A chemical recycling workshop at last week’s Plastics Recycling Conference and Trade Show was sold out, with over 300 attendees.
As part of the pilot project, Magnomer’s magnetizable inks were printed on shrink labels in collaboration with American Fuji Seal. | Courtesy of Magnomer.
A startup that supplies an ink allowing shrink sleeve labels to be separated from PET flakes with a magnet has successfully completed early testing of the innovation.
Kal-Polymers installed a customized line at its 110,000-square-foot Flowery Branch, Ga. plant. | Courtesy of Kal-Polymers
Kal-Polymers is spending up to $4 million to install an integrated processing line, which is boosting PP recycling capacity and allowing the firm to handle higher levels of contamination.