EcoBlue installs Starlinger PET bottle recycling system as Thailand “wakes up” to plastic pollution crisis

22 Jul 2021 --- Thai recycling company EcoBlue is investing US$25 million in a new facility to boost its country’s PET and polyolefin recycling rates. Part of the expansion will include a Starlinger bottle-to-bottle system, which the duo hope will ameliorate Thailand’s plastic pollution crisis.

Speaking to PackagingInsights, David Schweinzer, Starlinger’s regional sales manager for Southeast Asia, China and Japan, says the system’s installation represents an “awakening” in East Asia to the environmental destruction caused by unrecycled plastic packaging.

“Asian countries are awakening now, and the demand for high-grade recycled plastics is constantly rising despite the global COVID-19 pandemic,” he remarks.

“Mechanical recycling of plastics with a special focus on PET bottle-to-bottle recycling is becoming more and more attractive.”

“We can see that as well in some other Asian countries like in Vietnam or Malaysia where Starlinger’s PET bottle-to-bottle systems are also placed.”

Pure rPET from EcoBlue.Expanding EcoBlue, reducing waste
EcoBlue says it is the nation’s first recycling company to receive the Letter of No-Objection (LNO) by the US FDA for its “3D Pure” recycled PET (rPET) for use in food-contact applications.

The Starlinger technology is designed to enable EcoBlue to provide quality rPET resin for bottle applications. EcoBlue’s “3D Pure” rPET can be traced back to 100 percent post-consumer recyclate (PCR) through its Global Recycled Standard Certification process.

Once up and running, the line will reach an output of 2,500 kg per hour, equalling a total production capacity of around 20,000 metric tons of bottle-grade rPET annually.

EcoBlue currently saves 15,000 metric tons of PET per year through its recycling, along with 5,000 tons of combined polypropylene and PE-HD. This equates to saving 32,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and 100,000 barrels of oil annually.

“Our aim is to turn post-consumer and post-industrial waste materials into a sustainable substitute for virgin resin,” explains Pranay Jain, founder and managing director of EcoBlue.

Thailand’s plastic crisis
As in many countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already expanding plastic pollution crisis in Thailand. A boom in home food delivery and other e-commerce caused by lockdown measures has increased the nation’s plastic usage.

According to the Thailand Environment Institute, plastic waste has risen from roughly 5,500 tons per day pre-pandemic to 6,300 tons per day currently. This is despite the drop in general waste resulting from a ban on tourism. Plastic pollution in Thailand has risen sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Thailand Environmental Institute.

According to the World Bank, Thailand recycled just 17.6 percent of key plastic resins in 2018, falling short of the National Plastic Waste Management Roadmap 2018-2030 target of 22 percent.

Moreover, 87 percent of the material value of plastics in Thailand – approximately US$3.6 billion per year – is lost when 2.88 million tons are discarded rather than recycled into valuable materials.

Remote installation
Starlinger’s recoSTAR PET 215 iV+ bottle-to-bottle recycling system will be delivered to EcoBlue’s production site in Rayong Province, Thailand, this month.

The system boasts a larger extruder size, with a 215 mm screw, through which it can reach an output of 2,500 kg per hour.

“More Starlinger PET bottle-to-bottle systems are coming into operation in other Asian countries. Starlinger can see the trend is going toward high-end chip quality that can be produced with Starlinger’s recycling machines,” says Schweinzer.

One of the challenges installing the line in Thailand is working remotely, he explains, due to pandemic restrictions. A technician from the Starlinger Thailand Office is in charge of the installation, with remote support from Starlinger’s headquarters in Austria.

By Louis Gore-Langton

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