German film manufacturer sicht-pack Hagner (Dornstetten; www.sicht-pack-hagner.com) has recently put a EUR 12m processing plant for PET flakes into operation. The investment is a reaction to the increasing demand for PET film with recycled content, managing director Heinrich Hagner told Plasteurope.com.

With a capacity of 15,000 t/y, and a high-speed laser for polymer sorting, the plant, according to Hagner, is the largest of its kind in the European film manufacturing industry. The facility also processes washed PET flakes, which Hagner purchases from a PET deposit bottle collection system. In order to be able to store the quantity required for continuous production, eight additional silos have been installed at the site.

According to the company, the purity of the recyclate is up to 99.9%. A multi-stage sorting process ensures that the end product made with the cast film process meets the requirements of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA; Parma / Italy; www.efsa.europa.eu), Hagner said. In the meantime, the recycling process has been registered with EFSA, which is a prerequisite for use in the food packaging sector.

Founded in 1961, the family-owned company employs around 150 people and has annual turnover of almost EUR 100m. Five extrusion lines produce an average of around 65,000 t/y of PET film, of which 70% goes to the food industry, while about 10% is used in pharmaceuticals. Hagner sells about half of its produced volumes within Germany, and the rest to customers in Europe.