Korteks, one of the world’s biggest yarn producers based in Bursa, Turkey, has started the production of recycled polyester filament yarn in its production facility using a Starlinger recycling line.
Starlinger
Starlinger breaking ground in Turkish textile industry
The Starlinger recoSTAR universal 165 H-VAC iV+ took up operation in May 2021. It has a production capacity of 7,200 tonnes per year and currently processes clean in-house polyester fibers from production scrap together with washed post-consumer PET flakes at a ratio of 50/50. Korteks uses the polyester regranulate for its new polyester filament yarn line, TAÇ Reborn. With this investment, the company has made an important step towards establishing a circular economy in the Turkish textile industry.
Barış Mert, General Manager of Korteks, said: “We have been in extensive co-operation with Starlinger for a long time. Thanks to their unique and innovative recycling technology, we can offer new products in line with the circular economy model.”
The Starlinger recycling line is the first of its kind in Turkey and is equipped with special components for filament yarn recycling. A Rapid Sleeve Changer (RSC) candle filter developed by Starlinger ensures finest melt filtration down to 15μm. It has been specially designed for polyester recycling and reaches an output of 1,000kg/h. For continuous operation the filter elements are changed ‘on the fly’ without interrupting production, which significantly limits melt loss.
The viscoSTAR SSP unit at the end of the recycling process guarantees consistent IV increase according to the first-in-first-out principle. This ensures that the regranulate has the properties required for filament yarn production. The technical configuration of the line does not only allow the processing of a polyester fiber/PET flake mix as input materials, but also 100 per cent polyester filament scrap or 100 per cent PET bottle flakes.
With the new recycling facility, Korteks was able to reduce the production waste at its virgin PES yarn site to zero.
Paul Niedl, Commercial Head of Starlinger Recycling Technology, added: “We are proud to be a partner in Korteks’ quest for more sustainability in the textile business. Turkey is a significant global player in this industry. If more and more Turkish textile manufacturers start using recycled materials, this will be an important signal for the sector and a big step towards a circular economy. We support this development with our extensive know-how in synthetic fibre recycling and supply the fine-tuned and reliable recycling technology required in this field.”
Korteks expects the recycling market in general to grow as there is increased acceptance for recycled products in the society, and predicts the need for recycling solutions also for other synthetic and natural fibres.