“Major benefits when using R-PET are the reduction of the sealing temperature and very good peeling properties,” said the Austrian packaging producer’s product group director, Robert Obermayr. “Thus, valuable energy can be saved during the production process and CO2 emissions are reduced.”
The firm says that the UK and the US in particular are increasingly using R-PET, with major trading groups striving towards climate protection. By providing more sustainable packaging solutions, they’re creating more opportunities for carbon footprint labelling and scorecards, which appeal to manufacturers, suppliers and consumers, as they show the CO2 emissions generated during product production.
“The less CO2 emitted during the production of the package, the more interesting the final product is,” said Obermayr. What’s more, in some markets such as the UK, rubbish collection fees are reduced in proportion to the percentage of recycled R-PET that the product contains, allowing financial benefits to be gained as well.
R-PET originates from PET bottles, which become part of the so-called ‘homogeneous material circuit’. They’re pressed into bales, then cut up and cleaned by specialist recycling companies. During this procedure, flakes are created, which are normally processed into granulate. Further processing involves reconstructing the molecular chain of the material.
Source: Greiner Packaging
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