The new recycling unit will be located in Rezé, in the heart of the Group's historic preform manufacturing plant and head office. This new investment reflects SGT's determination to guarantee a continuous supply of r-PET to all its customers, the majority of whom are bottlers in the food sector, 15 months ahead of the implementation of the European Directive 2019/90 which establishes a minimum recycled content requirement of 25% for PET bottles by 2025.
The company had already anticipated market demand, as in 2019, the Group CEO Frédéric MIGNOT inaugurated his first PET recycling plant, named SGR, in Chalon-sur-Saone in Southeast France.
With an annual capacity of 12,000 tons, SGR produces a premium quality r-PET equivalent to virgin PET, suitable for direct food contact and approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
“We will be increasing our r-PET production capacity to 26,000 tons by mid-2024," explains Frédéric MIGNOT. To achieve this objective, the company is equipping itself with the latest technologies, including the new LSP (Liquid State Polycondensation) process from Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen (NGR) for the treatment of post-consumer PET.
In the NGR process, all PET impurities are removed in the liquid phase to meet all the requirements for food packaging. Complying with EFSA and FDA standards, this process also offers higher energy efficiency than conventional SSP applications. In addition, the extraction of contaminants when PET is in the liquid phase enables higher levels of decontamination, particularly for NIAS (Non-intentionally added substances) and bisphenol A.
