Merba Plastik, a film supplier based in the outskirts of Istanbul, purchased a Reifenhäuser PET thermoforming sheet line with twin-screw technology and degassing with a 5mbar vacuum pump to produce PET rigid films for food products.

Reifenhäuser PET thermoforming sheet line at Merba Plastik. (Source: Merba Plastik)

The line went into operation in the third quarter of 2023 and has been impressing with a strong output of 2500 kg/h ever since.

Fast material and product changeovers

The film line offers fast material and product changeovers, for example between post-consumer PET bottle regrind (PCR), post-industrial PET production waste (PIR) and new PET.

The EFSA/FDA-compliant PET process uses a co-rotating twin-screw extruder and a specially developed high-performance vacuum system that allows producers to process recycled PET material directly, without pre-treatment, pre-drying or a reactor process, as is necessary with other processes.

The system unbinds moisture from the PET flakes during the extrusion process and is therefore not only energy-efficient, but also enables fast product changeovers thanks to its high flexibility.

Another advantage of the single-stage process is that edge trim can be fed directly back into the process without the restrictions that occur with multi-stage technologies. The system also allows high raw material flexibility – under different product scenarios (100% PCR, PET virgin material, return of PET/PE laminates), a consistently high output can be guaranteed with unchanged high quality.

Mechatronic polishing stack ensures high film quality even with extra width

The width of 1800 mm at 200 µm poses a particular challenge in production. The polishing of an extra-wide film by a polishing stack requires particular precision, as it is technically highly demanding to maintain homogeneous thickness tolerances in a range of 0.2-1.2 mm across such a width.

Thanks to the precise mechatronic polishing stack with axe crossing, Reifenhäuser film line achieve high film quality even with extra width.

Energy savings

The Reifenhäuser film line significantly reduces energy consumption, achieving energy savings of more than 35%. The elimination of pre-treatment and pre-drying saves an average of 200kWh/t in production.