Extrusion International 6-2022

36 Extrusion International 6/2022 K 2022 Successful K Fair K 2022 was a complete success for Next Generation Re- cyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR). In addition to numer- ous completed orders, a great deal of global interest in the innovative PET recycling process of the Upper Austri- an machine builder was generated. More and more brand owners worldwide rely on the LSP technology of NGR for the processing of post-consumer PET. K trade fair was a great success for NGR Driven by the mission statement "working for a better future", NGR presented its future-oriented technologies in the market segments Post Industrial Recycling, Post Consumer Recycling and PET Improvement at this year's K trade fair. During the eight days of the fair, a large number vis- ited booth to experience the future of plastics recycling live. "K 2022 was a complete success for us. The interest of trade visitors in our technologies was enormous,” says a delighted Gerhard Ohler, CEO of the company, confirm - ing that this interest resulted not only in a large number of inquiries, but also in an equally considerable number of orders in all three market segments. As the world's leading trade show, this year's K trade show was once again the industry barometer for current trends and future developments in the plastics industry. For Günther Klammer, CTO of NGR, the current de- velopments in the industry are very pleasing: "World- wide, more and more brand owners are focusing on the standards of tomorrow and are using our LSP technol- ogy for the processing of post-consumer PET. We are finding that Liquid State Polycondensation is a real game changer in PET improvement and is rapidly gain- ing popularity due to its better energy efficiency and outstanding cleaning performance. We believe it will soon become the widely accepted standard for bottle- to-bottle PET recycling." NGR has been the leading manufacturer of LSP technol- ogy for years. Back in 2011, the machine builder decided to take a new approach to PET recycling. With the LSP pro- cess, a completely new way of processing PET waste back into food-grade material using an extremely efficient process was developed under the product name P:REACT. While conventional PET processing methods change the material properties in the solid phase of the plastic, re- quiring many hours, the decontamination of the material in the LSP process takes only minutes. In the LSP process, all impurities are removed from the PET melt while still in the liquid phase, which guarantees simultaneous upgrad- ing of the plastic and recycling to the highest standards of the brand owners. In direct comparison to conventional systems, NGR's LSP process offers an energy-efficient and, in terms of melt quality, better physical cleaning process. Approvals by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration – USA) and the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) cer- tify that the LSP-Process is the most suitable recyclate for 100% contact in food packaging. In addition to the high mobility of the molecules in the liquid phase, the enormous surface area of the material strands contributes to the extensive cleaning. As a result, the quality of resulting material far exceeds the safe limits set by EFSA and FDA. Due to the extraordinary cleaning performance, the processed PET can be recycled many times with no dis- advantages, thus saving further valuable resources com- pared to Virgin PET or energy as with other packaging materials such as glass or aluminum. While other manufacturers are now also working on LSP solutions for PET processing, the specialists from Up- per Austria have already sold more than 50 systems in over 20 different countries and gained the critical experi- ence and process knowledge in the process. "Of course, it was initially a big risk for us to rely on a different technology," Günther Klammer notes. "But we always believed in success and have learned a lot over the years. We are now in a position to offer mature and com- pletely developed solutions for our customers. Whether for film production, spun yarn production or beverage bottle preforms, our systems are running and we are thus a decisive step ahead," explains the CTO. Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR) www.ngr-world.com Trio of managing directors with owner Josef Hochreiter, left to right: Erich Fürst (COO); Josef Hochreiter (CEO der NEXT GENERATION GROUP); Gerhard Ohler (CEO); Günther Klammer (CTO). "Anyone who wants to set tomorrow's standards today and benefit from our many years of experience in PET recycling should opt for a system from Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH," the trio of managing directors, consisting of CEO Gerhard Ohler, CTO Günther Klammer and COO Erich Fürst, emphatically agree. (Photo: NGR)