Additional opportunities with an application of this type include the creation of a complete, integrated bottle-to-bottle system; this spans from disposal of the container to melting of the resin, which can be fed directly to the preform production system and the subsequent stretch-blow container molding station.

 

In this case we’re looking at a further revolution that consists of grinding and regrading PET to make directly the containers similar to those obtained from virgin polymers. In practice, the mechanical recycling and melting system feeds the plant directly, as if it were an ‘extruder’, consequently providing energy savings and logistical advantages.

The type of mold and its characteristics play a crucial role in the effectiveness and efficiency of the cellulose fiber material molding process. 
SACMI has come up with a dry molding process as opposed to wet molding, which is typically combined with porous molds.


 

This makes it less energy-intensive. Moreover, the process consumes no water and, above all, can be made ‘isostatic’ to achieve, in practice, true ‘full metal isostatic molding’. Until now, the latter has only been applied with ‘flat’ objects, yet has now been developed so the mold can also exert its pressure on the side walls to compact the material adequately.

As for PET, the tested process is similar to compression molding, with all the relative advantages. The system can handle high quantities of ‘solids’; lower extrusion temperatures degrade neither the polymeric material nor the fiber;


 

high-viscosity materials can be handled thanks to the absence of ‘hot runners’ (the narrow mold channels through which material must be injected in an injection molding process).