Artenius PET Recycling France (Beaune / France) has increased the output capacity of its PET recycling lines by 10,000 t/y to 35,000 t/y. Of this, 28,000 t/y is rPET for food contact applications, which passes through a solid-state polymerisation process and meets the specifications for virgin material (SuperCycle). The remainder is standard rPET for non-food applications (Nu-Cycle).

The French company – a subsidiary of PET Group La Seda (Barcelona / Spain; www.laseda.com) – has invested EUR 10m in the expansion project. It says the washing unit brought in to deal with the increased capacity is the biggest in Europe. In addition, a fourth extruder has been installed for flake processing. Some 65% of the input material – up to 46,000 t/y of post-consumer PET waste – stems from France, 15% from Belgium, 10% from Germany and 7% from Italy.