Reliable S+S sorting systems convince the Swiss
Superior technology of the VARISORT COMPACT combined system
RecyPET AG was established in 1998 and has operated Europe’s first bottle-to-bottle PET recycling plant in Fraunfeld, Switzerland, since September 2000. RecyPET’s goal is to close the material cycle for PET beverage bottles. The recyclate produced is used among other things for the production of new PET beverage bottles, food packing films, other films, etc.
S+S Separation and Sorting Technology supplied a metal separator of the type PETMAG to RecyPET as long ago as 2001. In 2010 the PETMAG metal separator, which during its ten years of operation caused service and spare part costs of barely 2000 Euros, was replaced by a combined system of the latest generation, the VARISORT COMPACT. Colour and metal sensors are combined with one another in this device.
The material to be examined is fed by means of specially adapted vibrating trough conveyors and unites the advantages of chutes and belt systems. This also makes it possible for the first time to remove rubber pieces from the material stream that are difficult to separate using chute technology due to varying friction. After evaluation of the relevant information, high-speed valves for the material discharge are activated with an appropriate time delay.
In comparison to conventional belt sorting systems, the VARISORT COMPACT sorting system is characterised by a compact design requiring little space. Retrofitting in existing plants and the adoption of already existing chute devices is easily possible.
For Kornel Büsser, production manager at the Swiss company RecyPET AG, the long-standing cooperation with S+S has proven its value: “The reliability and ease of maintenance of the S+S units convinced us, together with their performance, particularly in the separation of difficult contaminants.”
