(Left to right: Erich Fürst (COO); Josef Hochreiter (CEO der NEXT GENERATION GROUP); Gerhard Ohler (CEO); Günther Klammer (CTO))

November, 9, 2022 - K 2022 was a success for Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR), the company says. In addition to numerous completed orders, a great deal of global interest in the innovative PET recycling process of the Upper Austrian machine builder was generated. More brand owners worldwide rely on the LSP technology of Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH for the processing of post-consumer PET.

Driven by the mission statement "working for a better future", Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH presented its technologies in the market segments Post Industrial Recycling, Post Consumer Recycling and PET Improvement at this year's K trade fair.

During the eight days of the fair, a large number visited NGR booth to learn more about NGR's plastics recycling offers. The machine builder reported an enormous interest in their highlights. "K 2022 was a complete success for us. The interest of trade visitors in our technologies was enormous,” says a delighted Gerhard Ohler, CEO of the company, confirming that this interest resulted not only in a large number of inquiries, but also in an equally considerable number of orders in all three market segments.

K trade fair as an industry barometer

As the world's leading trade show, this year's K was once again the industry barometer for current trends and future developments in the plastics industry. For Günther Klammer, CTO of NGR, the current developments in the industry are very interesting: "Worldwide, more and more brand owners are focusing on the standards of tomorrow and are using our LSP technology for the processing of post-consumer PET. We are finding that Liquid State Polycondensation is a real game changer in PET improvement and is rapidly gaining popularity due to its better energy efficiency and outstanding cleaning performance. We believe it will soon become the widely accepted standard for bottle-to-bottle PET recycling."

Liquid State Polycondensation: new dimensions in PET processing

NGR says it has been the leading manufacturer of LSP technology for years. Back in 2011, the machine builder decided to take a new approach to PET recycling. With the LSP process, a completely new way of processing PET waste back into food-grade material using an efficient process was developed under the product name P:REACT. According to NGR, while conventional PET processing methods change the material properties in the solid phase of the plastic, requiring many hours, the decontamination of the material in the LSP process takes only minutes. NGR claims that, in the LSP process, all impurities are removed from the PET melt while still in the liquid phase, which guarantees simultaneous upgrading of the plastic and recycling to the highest standards of the brand owners. NGR says that, in direct comparison to conventional systems, its LSP process offers an energy-efficient and, in terms of melt quality, better physical cleaning process.

With this innovative process, the company claims to exceed the regulatory requirements in the direction of food suitability many times over and further upgrades the product quality of the recycled PET much better than existing technologies.

FDA and EFSA approvals

According to NGR, approvals by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration - USA) and the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) certify that the LSP-Process is the most suitable recyclate for 100% contact in food packaging. In addition to the high mobility of the molecules in the liquid phase, the enormous surface area of the material strands contributes to the extensive cleaning. As a result, the company says,m the quality of resulting material far exceeds the safe limits set by EFSA and FDA.

NGR says that, due to the cleaning performance, the processed PET can be recycled many times with no disadvantages, thus saving further valuable resources compared to Virgin PET or energy as with other packaging materials such as glass or aluminum.

Years of experience in LSP

NGR says they have already sold more than 50 systems in over 20 different countries and gained the critical experience and process knowledge in the process. "Of course, it was initially a big risk for us to rely on a different technology," Günther Klammer notes. "But we always believed in success and have learned a lot over the years. We are now in a position to offer mature and completely developed solutions for our customers. Whether for film production, spun yarn production or beverage bottle preforms, our systems are running and we are thus a decisive step ahead," explains the CTO.

"Anyone who wants to set tomorrow's standards today and benefit from our many years of experience in PET recycling should opt for a system from Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH," the trio of managing directors, consisting of CEO Gerhard Ohler, CTO Günther Klammer and COO Erich Fürst, emphatically agree.

Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR), based in Feldkirchen an der Donau, Austria, was founded in 1996 as a technology provider and machine builder for the plastics recycling industry and has become one of the leading suppliers of plastics recycling machines. NGR works on innovative recycling solutions for the areas of PIR (Post Industrial Recycling), PCR (Post Consumer Recycling) and PET Improvement. Early on, the company focused on internationalization and now supplies technology from Upper Austria to the entire world. With locations in the USA, China and Malaysia, NGR is always close to its customers. After almost 25 years, the headquarters in Feldkirchen regionally employs 180 people, while in the entire Next Generation Group, another 250 employees work on olutions for the plastics industry.

Source: NGR