Germany gets first bottle-to-bottle recycling plant

Krones has built the first recycling plant based upon the URRC process, which enables complete bottle-to-bottle recycling. Built in Germany, the recycling plant is able to process 13,000 tonnes a year, which approximately corresponds to the amount required annually in a PET bottling plant with an output of 50,000 to 60,000 bottles per hour.

The URRC process recycles compressed PET bottles by breaking them down into their separate components, grinding them into a uniform particle size, spraying them with caustic soda and heating them in a rotary oven which causes the top PET layer to peel off. The prepared flakes are then washed, leaving a raw material which can be transformed back into PET preforms or bottles.