APPE STEPS UP RECYCLED OUTPUT TO MEET MARKET DEMAND

APPE (formerly known as Artenius PET Packaging Europe and a division of LSB) has invested a further 10 million euros at its dedicated PET recycling plant in Beaune, France increasing its annual output by 40% from 25,000 to 35,000 tonnes, which is produced from over 46,000 tonnes of post-consumer PET – the equivalent of saving around 1.5 billion PET bottles from the waste stream.

This latest investment underlines the company’s leadership in the market and also the increasing demand for recycled materials in the food and drink industries.

APPE is the European leader in the recycling of PET containers and the largest producer of high quality food grade material with its pioneering technologies to produce SuperCycle™ (food grade) and Nu-Cycle™ (non-food grade) resins. SuperCycle™ is produced via a solid state polymerisation (SSP) process, which converts a PET bottle into food-grade material that is equivalent to virgin resin. Nu-Cycle™ is a slightly lower-grade material that is suitable for non-food applications such as bottles for household cleaning products.

The additional 10,000 tonnes in output has been made possible by the installation of a new wash line, the largest single washing line in Europe, and an additional extruder, bringing the number at the plant to four, which takes the washed flakes and, ensuring they are free from organic impurities, turns them into recycled pellets.

28,000 tonnes of the material produced at Beaune is SuperCycle™ material.

APPE’s recycling plant at Beaune collects post-consumer PET from across Europe with the majority (65%) originating from France, 15% from Belgium, 10% from Germany and 7% from Italy.

“With raw material prices increasing and the political agenda across Europe promoting sustainability, demand for recycled PET continues to grow, outstripping current levels of supply which is why the latest expansion at Beaune is such an important development ” comments Frédéric Blanchard, Plant Manager at Beaune.

www.appepackaging.com