This article virtually Fujairah’s Horizon Technologies yesteryear Asfia Khan offset appeared equally the embrace storey inward the Oct 2009 edition of Clean Middle East.Need of the Hour
Recycling of PET is the necessitate of the hr for its many environmental as well as sustainable packaging benefits.
Did yous know that almost all the major build inward the drinkable manufacture usage recycled plastic inward their packaging? I didn’t either until I visited Horizon Technologies, the entirely works life inward the Middle East which is into bottle-to-bottle plastic recycling.
Against a background of non having verified the authenticity of fraudulent emails alarm consumers non to reuse plastic H2O bottles available inward the marketplace today for the fright of carcinogenic substances similar dioxin leaching into the water, my coming together amongst the administration of Horizon Technologies was something of an eye–opener.
It was heartening to acquire from the administration of Horizon Technologies that most convenience-size drinkable bottles sold worldwide are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a cloth approved yesteryear the U.S. of A. of America Food as well as Drug Administration (USFDA) for usage inward nutrient as well as drinkable packaging for both unmarried as well as repeated use. In fact, the FDA has evaluated essay information nether circumstances that imitate long-term storage as well as back upward repeated usage of PET bottles.
The danger to wellness must have got belike existed inward the eighties, when mineral H2O was existence bottled inward other plastic bottles. When produced or burned, plastics release harmful gases which tin campaign wellness hazards.
However, farther progress inward interrogation as well as evolution on plastics, has rendered PET, a wonder production which has clarity, pleasing aesthetics, as well as most of import of all, it is a plastic which has been extensively tested for security when inward contact amongst nutrient as well as beverages.
As constituent of its review, USFDA assesses the migration potential of plastics as well as the substances amongst which they are made inward monastic enjoin to works life that at that topographic point is a minimal amount of transfer betwixt a plastic packet as well as the nutrient it contains as well as that whatever transfer does non pose a risk to human health. PET has been well-studied for toxicological properties as well as for migration properties nether essay atmospheric condition as well as the results of these tests have got demonstrated that PET is condom for its intended uses. PET also fulfils the European Union requirements for nutrient contact cloth (Directive2002/72/EC).
Again, going dorsum to the fraudulent emails circulating the spider web these days, at that topographic point is only no scientific ground to back upward the claim that PET bottles volition release dioxin when frozen. Dioxins are chemic compounds that are produced yesteryear combustion at extremely high temperatures, formed at temperatures good higher upward 700 degrees Fahrenheit; they cannot live formed at room temperature or at freezing temperatures. Moreover, at that topographic point is no reasonable scientific ground for expecting dioxins to live introduce inward plastic nutrient or drinkable containers inward the offset place.
Increasing Use of rPET yesteryear International Brands
With the line clearly drawn betwixt fact as well as fiction inward damage of the security of usage as well as re-use of PET plastic inward nutrient as well as drinkable packaging, it is slow to regard why leading brands such equally Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, Danone, etc, decided to assistance inward closing the loop for PET plastic recycling, peculiarly when recycled PET (rPET) has the potential of coming together the technical as well as security requirements demanded yesteryear the retail sector.
Like most plastics, PET is non biodegradable, as well as if it were non to live recycled, precious landfill areas would presently live engulfed amongst growing mounds of waste. In a bid to make away amongst PET waste, the ingenious Japanese are trying to create release energy yesteryear burning PET, for PET does non release toxic gases inward the surroundings when it is burnt.
Having seen bales of plastic recyclables inward domestic waste matter sorting plants inward Dubai as well as Al Ain, I wanted to honour out know how this waste matter was existence processed inward the UAE. This bespeak ultimately led me to Horizon Technologies FZE, the entirely bottle-to-bottle recycling unit of measurement inward the UAE, which converts used PET bottles into a make of nutrient as well as non-food grade recycled plastic.
The GCC has 1 of the highest per capita plastic wastage rates inward the world. The UAE as well as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia create the most waste matter inward the percentage equally a number of to a greater extent than disposable income, rising consumerism as well as the increasing tendency of buying bottled H2O equally opposed to drinking tap water. It is of no surprise so that the Oman-based Sabco Group which supplies bottled drinking H2O decided to laid upward a plastic recycling facility inward UAE’s Fujairah emirate nether the banner of Horizon Technologies FZE.
Challenges to rPET production
I naturally assumed that plants such equally the 1 laid upward yesteryear Horizon Technologies would have got an abundance of raw cloth existence supplied to them on a regular basis. Apparently, that is non the case.
Even though the UAE marketplace consumes approx. 70-80,000 tons of PET resin per annum, the Horizon works life receives some 600-700 tons per calendar month of PET plastic bottles to live recycled, which is virtually 10-12 per centum of the country’s overall consumption. The works life has the capacity to recycle 2000 tons per month. For Horizon Technologies to business office to total capacity as well as afterwards works life economically feasible operations, the works life should have optimum charge every day.
The reasons for this shortfall could live many. Not all the emirates of the UAE have got their ain sorting works life to procedure domestic corporation waste, which agency that valuable plastic waste matter is existence sent to landfills. Secondly, plastic recyclable waste matter is also existence exported to other countries yesteryear the few municipal waste matter sorting plants inward the UAE which leaves a fraction of the waste matter behind to live processed yesteryear plants such equally Horizon.
To fill upward inward the gap betwixt demand as well as supply, the full general populace equally good equally the populace as well as the someone sector tin gear upward to tackle this issue, which is genuinely a social campaign amongst a positive environmental impact for generations to come.
The number of plastic bottles recovered from menage waste matter should live maximized. Local collection services necessitate to live laid upward at strategic locations so that dropping of used plastic bottles becomes convenient for residents. While this exercise is existence carried out inward a few places across the UAE yesteryear Dubai’s Tadweer, Sharjah’s Bee’ah, the Environment Company as well as waste matter administration service providers similar Dulsco etc, the full general population yesteryear far remains unaware virtually the benefits of plastic recycling as well as how they tin contribute towards environmental sustainability.
Greater endeavour is thus required to encourage people to recognize the environmental benefits of recycling as well as to regard how their ain actions are straight linked to the fact that they volition live able to purchase products amongst to a greater extent than sustainable packaging inward the future. The environmental sustainable benefits are such that for every ton of recycled PET that is used to manufacture novel packaging, the release of 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide is saved.
Not entirely volition consumers live able to purchase to a greater extent than sustainable packaging amongst the usage of rPET, but volition also live able to have got payoff of cost benefits equally good equally cost savings inward manufacturing are invariably passed downwards to consumers. RPET cost is universally tagged to Virgin cost as well as at that topographic point is a differential betwixt the ii giving users cost payoff equally good equally argue to usage RPET inward their input. However, PCR producers, confront an uphill line inward offering this differential due to lesser economies of scale equally compared to resin producers as well as high conversion cost.
All this is possible if the demand for recycled PET (rPET) increases inward the region. If a strong habitation marketplace is developed for rPET inward the UAE lonely involving major retail brands, chances are that this volition laid the ball rolling to cause to a greater extent than recycling inward the region. This is just the variety of positive footstep that leading brands such equally Marks & Spencers, Tesco, Sansberry, etc, took to assistance UK’s plastics recycling industry.
If leading companies inward the UAE commit themselves to using recycled plastic or rPET, whether completely or partially, it volition indicate a growth inward demand for rPET. The ideal province of affairs would live for every ton of PET recycled inward the UAE to live pose dorsum into packaging production. However, since Horizon Technologies is the entirely works life inward the UAE which does bottle-to-bottle recycling, as well as so far, none of the local companies have got volunteered to usage recycled plastic for their products on a commercial scale, it is condom to assume that non a unmarried ton of recovered or recycled plastic is going dorsum into production inward the country.
Manufacturers of food, beverages as well as consumer goods inward the Middle East should recognize the fact that the usage of recycled PET adds to the build value of products fifty-fifty more. In countries where the usage of recycled products is evident, consumers have got responded proverb that they felt would experience much meliorate virtually a production or manufacturer whose packaging was made using recycled plastic. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 survey conducted yesteryear UK’s Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) inward the early on stages of using recycled plastic found that 86 per centum of those surveyed felt it would live skillful if packaging contained recycled plastic.
One of the challenges faced yesteryear recycling plants such equally Horizon is that the plastic waste matter per bale is non uniform inward consistency. The works life invariably receives few PVC bottles inward a bale of PET bottles for it is hard for workers inward waste matter sorting plants to differentiate betwixt PET as well as PVC bottles. PVC is a contaminant to PET recycling due to the many dissimilar toxic additives used to soften or stabilize PVC, which tin contaminate the recycling batch. In fact, a unmarried PVC bottle tin contaminate a recycling charge of 100,000 PET bottles. Worldwide statistics demonstrate that recycling of PVC is negligible, amongst estimates ranging from 0.1 to three per centum of postconsumer PVC waste matter existence recycled.
However, the automated works life at Horizon Technologies uses engineering scientific discipline that is geared to recognize as well as eliminate PVC bottles from the cycle so that entirely PET bottles are converted into PET flakes. This agency that the recovery of waste matter is never a hundred per centum amongst sometimes the recovery charge per unit of measurement falling equally depression equally 40-50 percent.
Another deterrent to consummate recovery as well as a skillful procedure yield are bottles containing leftover contents as well as other beverages which contaminate the launder water, a constituent which straight touching on the cost of conversion. In addition, perfectly skillful plastic bottles have got to live discarded if they comprise metallic foils. In fact, consumer deportment tin play a rattling of import purpose inward increasing the recovery charge per unit of measurement of recycling plants. People should realize that a picayune tending taken inward removing metallic foils as well as throwing away the content earlier disposing bottles tin add together tremendous value to the recycling process.
The Actual Conversion Process
Horizon Technologies HPET sectionalization adopts the B+B High German engineering scientific discipline to offering build clean PET build clean flakes to live used inward diverse industries as well as the FDA approved Starlinger engineering scientific discipline from Republic of Austria to create USFDA approved food-grade rPET chips. Currently, Horizon Technologies exports PET flakes exterior UAE where they are processed to manufacture fibre, sheet, strap, etc. Horizon’s rPET chips are exported to a gear upward marketplace inward the Far East, the Asian Market as well as the US, where they are used to manufacture nutrient as well as drinkable packaging.
Horizon Technologies’ HorizonPET sectionalization manufactures bottles for local clients from the edible petroleum as well as the detergents industries using virgin PET but the illustration for recycling volition live won when rPET volition live involved inward the manufacturing process. The works life is fully prepared to manufacture packaging bottles using a mixture of virgin PET as well as rPET according to client specifications.
The actual conversion procedure is simple, soundless involves the latest technology. It is fascinating to lookout adult man dingy plastic bottles existence converted into absolutely build clean PET flakes. Dirt as well as dust covered bales of PET are fed into the feeding bay where they are de-baled inward monastic enjoin to dislodge the bottles onto the conveyor system. At first, bottles which comprise metallic foils are discarded, followed yesteryear the alternative of bottles based on their colour. Horizon produces bluish as well as white coloured PET flakes, hence bottles of whatever other color equally good these are discarded.
The fully-automated organization so isolates as well as removes PVC bottles patch retaining entirely PET bottles. Manual sorting also takes house to regard that no PVC bottle gets processed. Before existence sent to the crusher, the bottles overstep through a metallic sorter 1 time again. Once the bottles are crushed, the flakes are washed as well as cleaned as well as sent onwards to a floating tank where the PET flakes are separated from the PP material. The PET flakes are dried as well as passed through a metallic separator unit of measurement for the terminal time, followed yesteryear color separation whereby pure build clean streams of white as well as bluish coloured PET flakes are obtained.
The ready-to-market PET flakes are packed into Jumbo Bags amongst each bale existence checked for consistency of lineament according to laid parameters similar color (lab values), clarity, cleanliness, strength, etc. Individual bags duly endorsed yesteryear Horizon’s well-equipped Quality Control Lab are so offered for sale. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 sample from each purse is retained yesteryear the lab till the client consumes products made from that bag.
For farther production of food-grade rPET chips, build clean flakes are passed onto a pelletizer where the extrusion of pellets takes place, followed yesteryear corporation stating as well as bagging.
Horizon Technologies’ eco friendly drive as well as commitment to protect the surroundings needs to live lauded. The nutrient as well as drinkable manufacturing manufacture along amongst FMCG manufacturing companies inward the percentage necessitate to wake upward as well as have got payoff of a world-class, bottle-to-bottle recycling works life introduce inward their midst. The retail equally good equally the packaging sector must come upward forrard to provide a fillip to the region’s nascent, yet, promising plastic recycling industry.
Horizon Technologies remains unique inward its capabilities to procedure PET products to create world-class, food-grade packaging cloth to come across demanding international specifications ─ it is upward to the other industries to written report the benefits of using recycled PET as well as play their constituent inward safeguarding planet Blue Planet as well as her bounties.
Asfia Khan, Horizon Technologies Clean Middle East, Vol.2, Issue 4, Oct 2009.
Thanks to Asfia Khan the editor of Clean Middle East for permission to reprint this article.
More information tin live obtained from Clean Middle East.
Check out to a greater extent than information at Horizon Technologies.
Dr Geoff Pound
Geoff tin live contacted yesteryear electronic mail at geoffpound(at)gmail.com on Facebook as well as Twitter.