Interview with Patrick Henzler, Sales Director at WEIMA Maschinenbau GmbH

Mr. Henzler, how is the recycling business developing at WEIMA?
Very well actually, because the importance of recycling is increasing, as environmental awareness is increasing, because resources are limited and plastics being a necessity. This means that more and more recyclate has to be used. With our WEIMA shredding machines, we are at the beginning of the recycling chain and make an important contribution. In post-consumer recycling, we have seen a trend of steadily increasing processing volumes over the past few years. We have adapted our machines to enable higher throughputs and still be cost-efficient. WEIMA shredders are also characterised by high accessibility for maintenance purposes and variable drive technologies. With more than 1200 machines delivered annually, we can draw on an exceptional wealth of experience.

How well does the procurement of the plastic waste work?
Procurement starts with the collection of recyclables. Due to the major importance of our export business, we are present in many countries and see very different waste systems at varying development stages. In some cases, these are only rudimentary. Even the waste systems in Europe, including Germany, are not yet at an optimum level however; in addition, even if they have already reached an advanced stage of development, some of the subsequent steps are still underdeveloped.

In which areas are problems still a factor?
In the sortability of materials for example: the possibilities for cost-efficient plastic recycling increase when the material is sorted. If you have laminated multi-layer films with an additional paper or aluminium layer for example, recycling becomes so expensive and complex that it is of no interest to potential processors. But recycling must also be profitable. Technologically, there are many possibilities, and new options are constantly being developed. But if the costs explode, no one will do it, which is one reason why a lot of valuable plastic waste is still simply incinerated in Germany.

How can we do improve upon that?
This is first and foremost a political task; there are still many steps to be taken in this area so that we can achieve a better management of material flows. Unified legislation on the use of food contact recyclates would be one example – that would also be a premise for creating consumer confidence. In Germany, the current situation is that material collection works differently in each administrative district. A lack of standards and a lack of monitoring of material flows lead to fluctuating processing quantities for recycling and thus to an erratic availability of recyclates.

Should product design also be controlled more strictly?
We absolutely need rules and specifications in terms of product design. At the moment, packaging manufacturers still have a completely free rein and can develop packaging that is practically impossible to recycle. A sustainable solution to this problem is the “Design for Recycling” approach for example.

This includes recyclable materials, bright colours for better sortability, mono-materials instead of a mix of materials, better labelling and fastening options – all of which improve recyclability. However, the main motivation for more recycling is currently being created by increasing consumer awareness. The more consumers make it a point to only buy products that are contained within recycled plastic packaging, the higher the recycled content will automatically be.

Are there no technological problems?
We have a wide variety of technological approaches in the recycling sector. Our interest as a company is to further develop our technologies so that we continue to have the best and most efficient solutions in the future. But the most efficient solution is not workable if the management of material flows does not allow for technologies to be used in a truly cost-efficient way. So far, we have only made limited progress within the European Union.

With post-industrial waste, there is mostly varietal purity. Will there be more recycling in this field?
In-house recycling will increase for two reasons: first, it will be necessary to use resources as efficiently as possible in the future in order to become more independent. The Covid pandemic has shown how disastrous supply shortages of raw materials can be for production. People are dependent on the petrochemical industry, its prices for virgin materials, and their availability. Many will want to reduce these dependencies and therefore rely more on recycling their production waste. Secondly, more recycling is done in-house when recyclate is too expensive on the market. For example: a company produces plastic parts for the car industry. The customer now demands a recycled content of 30 per cent. This recyclate costs more on the market than virgin material. As a result, the company is forced to handle the recycling of their production waste themselves. The changed price situation for raw materials is prompting processors to recycle.

Next generation solution for single-use packaging and sampling a new growth opportunity for the company

V-Shapes, an innovative supplier of vertically integrated products and services for convenient, hygienic and sustainable single- dose packaging, today reported that visett, a leading provider of branded and white label cosmetics and body care products, has added V-Shapes sachets to its packaging mix. The company currently has a V-Shapes PRIME single-lane fill and seal packaging/converting machine for on-demand production of unique single-dose sachets that can be opened with a single gesture using one hand, as well as a Trojan Label T2-C printer. The company is using a combination of printing on demand and pre-printed flexo substrates to meet the widest possible range of customer needs. visett, located in Germany and in business for two decades, offers its products via white label, B2B and B2C. B2B business for the company, which has nine employees, has grown in 50 countries over the last decade.

“We have historically offered a whole range of packaging for our products, including bottles and tubes,” said Michel Raad, Owner and Managing Director of visett, “We had never offered sachets before because many of our competitors did. But as an innovative company, when we learned about V-Shapes, we saw it as the next-generation solution, a differentiator for us, and we didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.”

The V-Shapes PRIME has been so successful for visett that the company is currently in the process of seeking a larger facility in order to add two or three V-Shapes ALPHA six-lane packaging machines. Since based on volume, some substrate is preprinted with flexography, the company will likely configure one of its machines as an AlphaFlex with in-line printing and use pre-printed flexo rolls for the others. “In this way,” Raad said, “we will have the ability to produce relatively large quantities with on-demand printing, but for the largest quantities, we can still leverage our flexo fleet as well.”

Currently, sachets comprise less than 10% of visett’s overall volume, but that share is expected to grow dramatically once the ALPHA units are installed. For visett, sachets represent an add-on offering, building on its overall growth rather than replacing any current production.

“As we have introduced these innovative sachets to the market,” Raad added, “we have found a number of unexpected uses. For example, for sampling, we don’t need to ship large containers anymore, which reduces our sampling costs significantly. In addition, customers who might previously have purchased a full-sized container of a product now are frequently asking for full sets of 10 to 20 sachets in addition to the full-size container for more convenient use. For example, they might take sachets with them when they travel and prefer not to carry the full- sized container with them, or for handing out to their customers as samples to encourage those customers to purchase the full-sized containers. Sometimes customers find the single-unit sachets more convenient overall. A good example is our cream make-up removal. Some customers would prefer to purchase 10 or 20 single-use sachets rather than a pot of the product.”

The other opportunity is in restaurants and at events, Raad points out. “The Health Department has told us that as we come out of the pandemic, most certainly, large multi-use containers on tables in restaurants and bars, as well as at events, will be forbidden. So the demand for single-use sachets will continue to grow. And the V-Shapes sachets are so much easier, cleaner and more hygienic to open and dispense than traditional single-serve packages.”

Raad has also been extremely pleased with the support he has received from V-Shapes, noting, “It’s been a very good relationship, they are easy to work with and very supportive. Their response time is also very fast. I have two phone numbers to use with WhatsApp … if the first one doesn’t answer right away, the second oneusually does, which means I literally have 24/7 service.” He also notes that, like his own company, V-Shapes is very proactive. He says, “At visett, once we have a good product range, we start selling it. But in the background, we are also developing new products and upgrading existing ones. V-Shapes has that same philosophy, and they are very proactive in communicating to us about upgrades or new developments. For example, they have already notified us we should expect to have another equipment upgrade soon, and we are also looking forward to implementing substrates made from recycled feedstocks. V-Shapes stays on top of all of that for us to make sure we are delivering the best product possible to our customers.”

To learn more about vertically integrated end-to-end solutions for production and filling of single-dose sachets, and other products and services from V-Shapes, visit www.V-Shapes.com.

The Polish printing specialist has invested in a Panther PX3300 UV inkjet press to expand its digital label offering and speed up production.

Lier, Belgium, 27 April 2022 – Based in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Aniflex Głowacka Wojtaszek general partnership is one of the fastest developing companies in the self-adhesive labels and packaging sector in Poland. The company’s growth strategy is based on consistently investing in modern printing technologies, allowing it to gain a competitive advantage and diversify its offering. Achieving these goals were the determining factors behind the decision to install a five-color Xeikon Panther PX3300 inkjet digital press. Maciej Wojtaszek, co-owner of the printing company, said, “The investment in the new Xeikon press has significantly increased the technological capacity of our plant and allowed us to exploit the sales potential for low- and medium-volume orders, as well as helped us cut delivery time – all of which enable us to stay competitive.”

Established in 2003, the company has invested significantly in organizational, production and technological advances over the years, and today, offers shrink sleeves and flexible packaging, in addition to self-adhesive labels. Great emphasis is also placed on expanding the product offering with innovative solutions that meet current trends and market needs, as the company strives to maintain its leading position. These include self-adhesive labels printed on new eco materials and packaging with augmented reality technology.

Xeikon’s Panther PX3300 has replaced an older inkjet machine which had been in use at the Tomaszów plant for many years. In fact, Aniflex was one of the first companies in the industry to invest in UV inkjet printing for labels. The Xeikon press was chosen to modernize production and allow the company to increase print quality, among many other benefits.

Mr Wojtaszek explained that when choosing a new press, it is extremely important to ensure that the high print quality can be repeated automatically without having to re-enter the job parameters each time, and that you have the ability to produce multiple SKUs very quickly. Xeikon PX3300 meets both these requirements and more. The five-colour (CMYK + white) press prints on substrates up to 350 mm wide at a maximum speed of 50 m/min (approx. 990 m2/h). The PantherCure inks allows Aniflex to deliver durable and abrasion- resistant labels with high gloss, and thanks to the ability to apply two layers of white ink, to produce attractive tactile and haptic effects inline.

“Xeikon’s PX3300 supports a wide variety of substrates: PP, PE, PET, self-adhesive paper, vinyl, metallized and clear-on-clear transparent materials, and is extremely useful in the production of labels for industrial, chemical and household use, as well as for cosmetics and health care, and alcohol, beer and other beverage labels,” says Michał Kuczkowski, sales manager, labels and packaging, Xeikon. “There is no need to create printing plates for digital printing, which reduces costs and shortens lead times. By using a sensor, Xeikon presses can also print additional elements for personalization, or markers in a specific place, or add digital print on pre-printed substrates.

“By using Xeikon X-800 software, the user can increase the automation of the label production process and the control of individual production stages, as well as create security measures to protect the end user, such as EAN barcodes, QR codes, DataMatrix or other track & trace solutions.”

The introduction of the state-of-the-art Xeikon PX3300 combined with the earlier experience of the Aniflex team in inkjet printing has allowed the printing company to reach the next level of production quality. Customers have also been very enthusiastic about the new opportunities that the investment will bring.

Mr Kuczkowski concludes, “We are very proud to support a modern company like Aniflex. As a market leader, it is developing dynamically, as validated by being ranked 13 times as a Business Gazelle by the Coface Group. The team also conducts many additional activities and share interesting ideas, such as webinars about the creation and production of labels and packaging. They educate their clients by showing unconventional projects, new raw materials, various refinements, and environmentally friendly solutions. It is a very experienced and demanding team that often sets high standards for their suppliers, including us!”

Picture caption (L–R): Michał Kuczkowski, sales manager, labels and packaging, Xeikon; Maciej Wojtaszek, co-owner, Aniflex; and Łukasz Smok, head of production, Aniflex

The recently opened Circular Plastics Australia PET recycling facility in Albury-Wodonga, New South Wales, is equipped with a recoSTAR PET 215 HC iV+ PET bottle-to-bottle recycling line from Starlinger that produces 2.5 tons of rPET per hour.

Circular Plastics Australia (PET) is a joint venture partnership between Pact Group, Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd, Asahi Beverages, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) aiming to create a circular economy for PET beverage and food packaging. The newly installed recoSTAR PET 215 HC iV+ at the Albury-Wodonga facility turns post-consumer PET flakes into food-contact rPET pellets, starting with a two-stage heating and drying process of the hot-washed flakes for optimum preparation for the extrusion process. After extrusion, thorough filtering and underwater pelletising, the produced rPET pellets undergo vacuum treatment in the downstream SSP reactors for IV increase and highly effective decontamination that readies the pellets for food-contact applications.

Joining forces to close the loop
Circular Plastics Australia (CPA) plans to recycle 30,000 tonnes of post-consumer PET collected via container deposit schemes and kerbside recycling each year and use the food-grade rPET pellets as raw material to produce new beverage bottles and other food and beverage packaging. Each member of the joint venture provides its knowledge and expertise in the project: Cleanaway supplies the plastic to be recycled through its collection and sorting network, Pact operates the facility and provides technical and packaging expertise, while Asahi Beverages, CCEP and Pact buy the recycled plastic from the facility to use in their packaging. The output of the Albury-Wodonga plant will help to increase the amount of locally sourced and recycled PET by two thirds from around 30,000 tonnes to over 50,000 tonnes p.a. and reduce Australia’s reliance on virgin plastic and recycled plastic imports.

The CPA Albury-Wodonga facility was supported by an AUD 5 million grant through the New South Wales Government’s “Waste Less, Recycle More” initiative, with the support of the Australian Government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund. “This joint venture is a major achievement and sets precedence”, said Paul Niedl, Commercial Head of Starlinger recycling technology. “We feel proud that we can support Circular Plastics Australia with our know-how and technology in their commitment to sustainability and help to establish a closed-loop system for plastic packaging in Australia.”

Pact’s Managing Director and CEO, Sanjay Dayal, said: “The opening of this state-of-the- art facility in Albury-Wodonga is a game changer for Australia’s plastic recycling industry. Working together with our partners, this facility creates a true circular economy by recycling and manufacturing PET beverage bottles and food packaging here in Australia without the need to import plastic material from overseas.”

CPA is building a second PET recycling facility in Altona North in Melbourne, Victoria, which will be equipped with a Starlinger recoSTAR PET 330 HC iV+ recycling line featuring the largest SSP reactor currently installed worldwide. It will have the capacity to recycle the equivalent of around one billion PET beverage bottles each year. Construction has been scheduled to begin in April 2022 and be completed in 2023.

www.pactgroup.com
www.cleanaway.com.au
www.asahi.com.au
www.cocacolaep.com/au