In 2019, PET to PET Recycling Österreich (Müllendorf / Austria; www.pet2pet.at) recycled around 1.1 bn PET bottles, from which it generated over 26,300 t of PET – an all-time record and 3% increase compared with 2018. From this PET, the Austrian recycling company produced valuable secondary raw material for new containers. Christian Strasser, managing director of PET to PET Recycling, said the company has one of the most modern PET recycling facilities in the world.

In the course of 2019, the company’s washing unit for PET flakes was completely refurbished to comply with the latest in washing technology. This has enabled it on the one hand to raise recyclate quality and, on the other, to increase throughput. Because Austria’s beverage manufacturers are continuously increasing the recyclate content of PET bottles – some of them already consist entirely of rPET – optimisation measures and steps to achieve even greater efficiency are essential. Further expansion of the regranulation facility is planned for 2020.

On two different processing lines, the company produces either rPET flakes or rPET resin – both in a quality suitable for food-contact applications. Depending on the specific production requirements and in order to attain as high a recyclate content as possible, both types of recycled PET are used in the production of new beverage bottles.