PET recycling and quality control of recycled material are increasingly relevant needs in the thermoplastics industry, and we at EUR.EX.MA are ready to meet them with innovative solutions.Thanks to our Microex Cast and its forced dosing system, it is possible to obtain a film directly from r-PET flakes, bringing small-scale testing closer to industrial reality.We look forward to sharing our achievements with you at PRSE 2025!
Recycled PET market and European obligations: the new challenges for manufacturers
The r-PET market is growing strongly: by 2022, 75 % of PET bottles were recycled in Europe and nearly 2.7 million tons of waste was sorted for recycling, of which 1.4 million tons was destined for food-contact packaging. However, there are still several challenges related to the quality and availability of recycled material, and with the EU obligation to achieve 30 % recycled content in bottles by 2030, the industry needs to accelerate the adoption of efficient solutions to test and integrate r-PET into production processes.
Managing quality and cost: the difficulties in the use of recycled PET
Recycled PET finds application in multiple sectors, from food packaging to textiles, but its use is not without its difficulties.The quality of recyclate can vary, affecting the stability of the production process and the yield of the final material. In addition, the high cost compared to virgin plastic and limited availability pose major challenges for manufacturers. Not to mention those who need to adapt production machinery to use recycled material in order to comply with European regulations, with large investments requiring preliminary studies. For this reason, cost-effective but reliable testing is essential to optimize r-PET reuse.
Microex Cast: the advanced technology for quick and efficient testing on r-PET
Thanks to the presence of a forced dosing system and a conical screw profile that ensures excellent melt compression in a very short screw material residence time, our Microex Cast is the ideal solution for performing tests with r-PET. Among other advantages:
- With only 300g of material, it can run a test, reducing waste and cost
- It allows the direct use of PET flakes, bringing the test closer to production reality and avoiding the material regranulation step
- Its calender can be thermoregulated and cooled, thus expanding application possibilities
- With its in-line visual system, identifies and categorizes defects in the recycled material, generating detailed reports to improve production processes.
Experience Microex Cast at PRSE 2025!
If you'd like to see our Microex Cast in person, we look forward to seeing you at PRSE 2025, where it will be on display at our booth C135, or in our in-house EUR.EX.LAB laboratory, where you can conduct extrusion tests on different processes and applications.
In EUR.EX.LAB you will be able to test first-hand how our Microex Cast can improve your r-PET testing and you will also have the opportunity to test other innovative recycling solutions, our single and twin screw laboratory regranulators, X-TR 25 and X-TWIN S. Contact us to book your appointment at the show and find out how we can support you in improving the processing of recycled PET!