Reiling ensures purity of PET recyclate with Sesotec's sorting and analysis systems

The Reiling Group of Companies works to create new opportunities for the optimal recycling and utilization of valuable materials. In addition to recycling glass, photovoltaic panels and wood, Reiling operates PET recycling plants at its sites in Hamm, Marienfeld and, since 2020, in Burgbernheim.

In the PET recycling cycle in particular, the purity of the recycled end product is a prerequisite for rPET to be reused in a variety of ways. The production of new PET bottles or the manufacture of polyester fibers are just two individual examples of the use of rPET. If the highest quality recyclate is used, the recycling loop is closed. The need to produce virgin material recedes into the background.

To produce recyclate of the highest grade and quality, Reiling Kunststoffrecycling relies on a multi-stage recycling process with state-of-the-art equipment. This is because only pure recyclate can be reused for a wide range of new products.

The PET bottles are delivered in the form of briquettes or pressed into bales. First, they are separated, then contaminants are removed, and the bottles are sorted by color. After the crushing and washing processes, the PET flakes pass through Sesotec's FLAKE PURIFIER+ sorting systems that perform separation of colors and metals as well as sorting by plastic type in a single pass. 

Sesotec's FLAKE PURIFIER+ sorting system.

In addition to state-of-the-art equipment, Reiling's internal quality management system throughout the entire treatment process ensures that only PET flakes of high purity leave the plant. Complex manual, thermal and visual random sample analyses are necessary to evaluate the recyclate in the recycling process.

With the new FLAKE SCAN laboratory analysis system from Sesotec, Reiling is able to perform an evaluation of the quality of plastic flakes within a few minutes. This enables fast and reliable decisions to be made about the usability of the material.

The Sesotec FLAKE SCAN material analysis system.

Every single BigBag and every silo delivery is subjected to precise quality control. The Sesotec FLAKE SCAN material analysis system is installed directly in the plant. This allows the material samples from each BigBag to be examined and analyzed precisely and within minutes for foreign plastics, off-color and metals.

"We had the opportunity to test the FLAKE SCAN shortly after its market launch and were convinced of its benefits after extensive trials," Dr. Hanns-Jörg Bentele, Managing Director of Reiling Kunststoffrecycling GmbH, commented. "The FLAKE SCAN analysis system from Sesotec provides us with precise, automatic, and above all, reproducible results for the analysis of material samples in a significantly shorter time. The analysis system relieves the laboratory. This saves time, and of course, additional costs in this area."

The FLAKE PURIFIER+ sorting system, and the FLAKE SCAN material analysis system, from Sesotec, make precision in material separation and quality monitoring possible. Sorting and analysis form a unit, with the help of which extremely high-quality secondary raw materials are achieved. Material cycles can then be closed.