Since December 1997 a new PET recycling facility of Schmalbach-Lubeca AG (Kaiserswerther Str. 115, D-40880 Ratingen) has been operating in the French town of Beaune (Burgundy) for the production of new PET material from used PET bottles. The material is used not only for manufacturing containers for non-food articles, such as household cleaners and hair shampoo, but also for drinks and food. This has become possible through the use of the "Supercycle" technology, which was acquired at the beginning of 1997 with the PET Container Division from Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI, Milwaukee, USA) – see Plasteurope.com 23, 1996. This technology makes it possible to recycle non-returnable bottles into containers for food-contact applications. "With this process we have closed the cycle for PET packagings, because the recycled material has the same properties as new material", says Peter Jacobs, Recycling Director for Europe at Schmalbach-Lubeca, talking to journalists in Beaune.

Around 6,300 t/y PET granules (1,600 t so-called "Nucyle" and 4,700 t "Supercycle") are being produced on the present production line, and there is room for three more lines with a similar capacity. "As demand increases we will be able to recycle four times the amount of shredded PET material in our Beaune facility", said Jacobs. According to company information the investment for the recycling plant was around FRF 30m (approx. DEM 10m). The project was supported by funds from the French Eco Emballage organisation.

According to estimates, around 1.7m t/y PET will be used in Europe in four to five years. In 1997 the figure was 1m t/y. According to current EU law, the recycling quota is currently 25%. "If this quota is retained, around 400,000 t/y PET must be recycled in five years", emphasised Board Chairman Hanno C. Fiedler. Of this, around 100,000 t/y recycled "PET Nucyle" would be used in the production of carpets, down jackets and containers for non-food articles, while the remaining 300,000 t/y could be used for the production of new PET bottles. This is what Schmalbach-Lubeca is hoping because, with its "Supercycle" process, it is the only company in Europe to have a facility of this kind. For customers and consumers the material should not be any more expensive: the company is aiming to sell PET preforms of "Supercycle" at the same price as preforms of new PET material.

According to Jacobs, the following licenses have been obtained for "Supercycle" for the food industry: FDA approval in the USA for its use in direct contact with foodstuffs, certified as safe for food applications in the UK, approval by the Health Ministry in Belgium, declaration of safety from the Institute for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) in the Netherlands, approval from the Conseil Superieur d'Hygiene Publique (CSHP) in France, certificate of safety from the Fresenius Institut (Im Meisel 14, D-65232 Taunusstein).

READER SERVICE: Press release and information brochure from Johnson Controls (1996) on the "Supercycle" technology: PIE-No. 39238 (German).