Chinaplas 2024: Starlinger to unveil tape extrusion line for rPP in Asian circularity drive

18 Mar 2024 --- Austria’s Starlinger, specializing in woven plastic packaging production and plastic recycling systems, will present a tape extrusion line for processing recycled PP at this year’s Chinaplas in Shanghai (April 23-26). 

In line with the event, Starlinger is hosting an open house at its production facility in nearby Taicang, showcasing the company’s StarEx tape extrusion line with EqoClean filter module in operation.

This machine setup allows the production of tapes with high shares of recycled PP and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) — an “important stepping stone” on the way to a circular economy for raffia sacks and flexible intermediate bulk containers.

“With fast growing amounts of plastic waste in all parts of the world, a circular economy for plastic packaging is definitely called for,” says Harald Neumüller, chief scientific officer of Starlinger.

“Starlinger focuses on developing technologies such as the StarEx tape extrusion line with EqoClean filter module that enable packaging producers to manufacture woven plastic packaging in the most sustainable way: Our machines use as little raw materials as possible, have very low energy consumption, achieve high efficiency and can process recycled materials.”

Closing the loop on big bags
The EqoClean filter module is designed to produce PP tapes with PCR PP. It enables, for instance, the use of recycled PP from post-consumer big bags to produce heavy-duty PP tape fabric for new big bags, thus closing the loop for this packaging application.

The EqoClean module comprises an SPB single-piston power-backflush filter, a melt pump and a second filter unit. The SPB filter has one piston and four cavities for filter screens.

The automatic high-pressure backflushing process cleans the filter screens thoroughly, increasing their lifetime and reducing machine downtime significantly.

During the hydraulic power-backflush procedure, the tape line operates at full production speed without interrupting the production process.

With the EqoClean filter module, tapes containing high shares of CaCO3 and post-consumer rPP can be produced on Starlinger’s starEX tape extrusion lines “without cutting back on production efficiency.” 

This is considered “essential” within Starlinger’s “Circular Packaging” concept, which promotes closed product cycles for big bags to reduce resource consumption and environmental pollution.

Circular loom for tape fabric
As a second highlight, the new RX 6.1 Pro circular loom for lightweight and heavy PP tape fabric will be on show at the Starlinger booth during Chinaplas. 

Starlinger StarEx EqoClean filter.The middle-sized six-shuttle loom focuses on sustainable packaging production, a more extended part lifetime, and an “operator-friendly” design. 

With production speeds of up to 920 picks per minute and more than 85% production efficiency, the loom delivers “outstanding” fabric quality from 50 to 140 gram per square meter (140 to 200 gram per square meter as a heavy-duty version) while saving energy and resources.

Recycling solutions
Starlinger recycling technology offers recycling solutions for plastics such as PE, PP and PET among others.

Special technological features such as high-vacuum degassing or odor reduction ensure recycled pellets that can be used in packaging applications again.

“Starlinger’s PET bottle-to-bottle recycling process builds on more than 15 years of solid know-how in this field and has been approved for food-contact applications by a number of multinational brand owners as well as national and international authorities,” details the company.

Solid-state polycondensation and decontamination reactors supplied by Starlinger viscotec complement Starlinger’s PET recycling technology and “guarantee highest pureness and optimum viscosity” in the recycled PET pellets or flakes. 

The company’s new ViscoZero melt phase decontamination reactor is designed to produce recycled food-grade resins from polyolefins and polystyrene as well as food-grade and IV-increased recycled polyester.

By Benjamin Ferrer