Produce Food-Grade rPET With Stable Quality
Reliable rPET starts with the right PET process.
Input quality, IV, moisture, contamination and the target application all influence the process route and the quality you can achieve.
HyperPET combines gentle MAS extrusion with Solid State Polycondensation to build IV in a controlled way and support consistent, food-grade rPET performance.
Is HyperPET The Right Route For My Application?
HyperPET may be relevant when recycled PET requires controlled IV recovery, demanding decontamination, low acetaldehyde values or preparation for bottle-grade and other defined food-contact applications.
When A Simpler Route May Be Enough
If the input is clean and consistent, the IV is already suitable, decontamination requirements are limited and the target is non-food or less demanding, extrusion without pre-extrusion SSP may be more economical.
When HyperPET May Make Sense
HyperPET should be evaluated when input IV has fallen, moisture and volatiles must be controlled, decontamination is demanding, or the target application requires higher IV (>0,80 dl/gr), AA below specific levels (<1ppm), colour and purity performance.
What Must Be Validated
Confirm the input source, material history, moisture, contamination, IV, AA, colour, target throughput, target application and applicable regulatory route. Use representative material and agreed acceptance criteria before final line selection.
Best Suited For:
When Does Pre-Extrusion SSP Make Technical And Economic Sense?
HyperPET combines PET preparation by an SSP based on infrared and vacuum treatment with MAS conical co-rotating twin-screw extrusion. The route should be selected only when the application requires high and stable IV, low content of AA, food-contact applications.
Extrusion Only — May suit consistent PET when IV, decontamination and target quality can be achieved without SSP.
Extrusion + Downstream SSP — May suit applications that require IV build-up after pelletising; confirm residence time, energy and downstream requirements.
Pre-Extrusion SSP + Extrusion — May suit demanding input or applications where preparation before melting supports the agreed IV, AA, moisture and decontamination objectives.
What Drives The Investment
Input quality, contamination, moisture, initial and target IV, decontamination requirements, throughput, energy, regulatory validation and the value of the final rPET.
How iQonicTwin HyperPET Works
HyperPET brings extrusion and Solid State Polycondensation together into one PET recycling platform.
rPET Flakes
Cleaned rPET bottle flakes, tray flakes, edge trim, regrind or selected blends.
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Pre-Extrusion SSP
Infrared and vacuum preparation removes moisture and volatiles for optimal IV building and decontamination (Super-Clean) according to FDA/EFSA specifications.
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MAS Extrusion
Gentle conical twin-screw extrusion ensures stable melt quality and protects IV, color and AA values.
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IV Build-Up
Solid-state polycondensation increases IV to target levels for demanding PET applications.
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Food-Grade Pellets
Stable, high-IV rPET pellets suitable for bottle-grade and other food-contact applications.
MAS Co-Rotating Conical Twin-Screw Extrusion
A compact, patented extrusion design for gentle processing, short dwell time, low melt temperatures and minimal energy consumption.
Pre-Extrusion Solid State Polycondensation(SSP)
A patented SSP process that combines infrared radiation and vacuum to accelerate IV rise-up and support uniform intrinsic viscosity and food-grade properties in recycled PET.
Food-Grade rPET Output
The process is described for high-purity, food-grade pellets with deep decontamination for food applications.
Performance Points To Validate
- Input range and blend limits
- Moisture and volatile reduction
- IV before and after each relevant process stage
- AA and colour performance
- Decontamination test method and result
- Realistic throughput range by material
- kWh/kg under stated operating conditions
- Regulatory approval scope and supporting documents
Built for Bottle-to-Bottle and Advanced PET Recycling
HyperPET can be evaluated for bottle-to-bottle, tray-to-bottle and other demanding PET applications when the input stream, decontamination performance, IV, AA, colour and final product specifications are defined and validated.
Food-contact suitability must be stated only for the specific process, material input, operating conditions, jurisdiction and approval scope supported by current documentation. The equipment supplier’s technology description does not replace the operator’s regulatory responsibilities or project-specific validation.
Three PET Routes — Which One Is Yours?
| rPET Regran | rPET SSP | iQonicTwin HyperPET | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use it when | Input IV already meets the target application | IV must be raised or stabilised | Output must reach bottle-grade / food-contact quality |
| Process stages | Extrusion → degassing → filtration → pelletising | Regran route +Solid-StatePolycondensation after extrusion | Crystalliser → MOBYSSP (IR + Vacuum)→ extrusion → filtration → pelletising |
| IV handling | Preserved | Increased and stabilised post-extrusion | Adjusted to target before extrusion |
| Typical input | Clean flakes, edge trim, production scrap, regrind | Post-consumer flakes with degraded IV | Washed post-consumer bottle flakes; tray flakes |
| Typical output | Technical rPET pellets, fibre, strapping, sheet | Pellets for demanding technical and packaging use | Bottle-grade rPET; tray-to-bottle applications |
| Throughput range | 1.000 – 3.000kg/h | 1.000 – 3.000kg/h | 1.000 – 3.000kg/h |
Not sure which column you are in? That is what a material test answers. Send your flakes and we measure IV, moisture and contamination before anyone quotes a line.
Start With Your Real PET Input
The input decides the line. These are the four PET streams MAS builds around most often, and what each one demands from the process.
Post-Consumer Bottle Flakes
The challenge: Washed flakes arrive with residual moisture and an IV already reduced by the first life cycle. Melting them wet drops the IV further.
What the line does: Vacuum degassing during extrusion, tight residence-time control, and SSP or HyperPET where bottle-grade IV is the target.
Goes into: Bottle-to-bottle, sheet, strapping, fibre.
Tray And Sheet Flakes
The challenge: Mixed IV levels, multilayer structures, PE sealing layers and adhesives that do not belong in the melt.
What the line does: Homogenisation across varying IV plus melt filtration sized for the contamination profile. The HyperPET route targetseven tray-to-tray andtray-to-bottle applications.
Goes into: New trays, sheet, and — via HyperPET — bottle-grade material.
Edge Trim And Production Scrap
The challenge: Clean and known, but low bulk density and generated continuously — it has to go somewhere without buffering.
What the line does: Direct or prepared feeding into extrusion, with the option to return melt in-line rather than re-pelletising it.
Goes into: The same sheet or film line it came from, or pellets.
Regrind, Pellets And PET Blends
The challenge: Already once-processed material with an accumulated thermal history, plus additives or fillers in compounding projects.
What the line does: Low-shear reprocessing that adds as little thermal history as possible, with dosing for additives where required.
Goes into: Application-specific PET compounds and technical products.
iQonicTwin HyperPET: Polycondensation Before Extrusion
Most food-grade PET lines runSolid-StatePolycondensation(SSP) after extrusion. HyperPET inverts that order. rPET flakes are pre-heated and dried in a crystalliser, then pass into the MOBY reactor, where infrared radiation under vacuum reduces moisture and lifts the IV to the level the target application requires. Only then does the material reach the extruder — carrying its own stored heat, which lowers extrusion energy demand and raises throughput.
The practical consequence: conventional food-grade recycling is a bottle-to-bottle process. HyperPET is built to extend that to tray-to-bottle. Developed with PET recycling specialist Christian Schiavolin as part of the MAS iQonicTwin series.
The Four Numbers That Decide rPET Quality
| Parameter | Why It Decides The Application | What The Line Does About It |
|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic Viscosity (IV) | Sets mechanical strength and processability. Bottle grade needs a higher IV than fibre or strapping. | Short residence time and controlled thermal history limit loss; SSP or the MOBY reactor raise it where needed. |
| Moisture | Water in the melt drives hydrolytic degradation — the fastest way to lose IV. | Crystallisation and drying upstream, vacuum degassing in the extruder. |
| Acetaldehyde (AA) | Migrates into contents and affects taste — critical for beverage applications. | Limited thermal load plus vacuum removal of volatiles; SSP reduces it further. |
| Colour And Solid Contamination | L* andb* value and black specks decide whether the pellet is saleable into packaging. | Gentle processing to avoid yellowing, plus CDF melt filtration sized to the contamination profile. |
Not sure which column you are in? That is what a material test answers. Send your flakes and we measure IV, moisture and contamination before anyone quotes a line.
Food-Contact And Other Regulated PET Applications
Worth being precise about who holds what. Under EU Regulation 2022/1616, a recycling process is authorised — not a machine. The authorisation is held by the operator, based on an EFSA opinion covering the specific input material, the critical process steps and their operating parameters, and a challenge test demonstrating decontamination efficiency.
What MAS contributes: a line whose critical steps — temperature, residence time, pressure and vacuum level — are controlled, documented and reproducible, so they can be specified and defended in your dossier. The HyperPET configuration is designed specifically around food-grade PET requirements. We work alongside your regulatory route rather than replacing it, and can provide the process data your submission needs.
What Our Customers Say
The conical shape is very advantageous when melting the material, where with little shear and very short dwell time, the material is damaged as little as possible.
Arjan Van Kempen, CEO – Cumapol (NL)
We always have to try to buy as good as possible to produce top quality regranulate. And we do that with the technology we bought from MAS.
Peter Daalder, CEO – Daly Plastics (NL)
The Twin Screw Extruder from MAS is an engineering feat in the field of plastics recycling.
Wilson Pandhika, Director – PANERA Group
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Validate Your PET Route Before Final Configuration
Send representative rPET material together with the input source, current IV, moisture, contamination, target application, required output quality and expected throughput. MAS can define a test scope, compare feasible PET process routes and agree the measurements and acceptance criteria required before the final line concept is selected.
