Extrusion International 1-2018

14 Extrusion International 1/2018 INDUSTRY NEWS First Recycling Line equipped with Odor Reduction Technology put into Operation Following the installation of the first of two recycling lines type recoSTAR dynamic 165 C-VAC in Houston, Tex- as, Avangard Innovative LP is now ready to start process- ing of post-consumer film at its new recycling plant. De- pending on filtration fineness, the line achieves an output of up to 3,300 lb/hr. To ensure that the regranulate not only performs but smells like virginmaterial, both lines are equipped with Starlinger’s odor reduction technology. Avangard’s material comes from retail packaging film that contains a high amount of paper labels. The initial goal of the test run at Starlinger’s technology center was to remove as much paper contamination as possible with minimal melt loss. Processing went smoothly, but when the client inspected the material in the US, it was discov- ered that the pellets had taken on an unpleasant odor. An investigation showed that the smell had been caused by the exposure of paper residues to heat during the ex- trusion process. Consequently, Avangard asked an addi- tional requirement of Starlinger’s technology: production of odorless recyclate. LDPE film was obviously not a challenge, but the high pa- per content called for an extension of the line with an ex- tra process step: odor reduction. Through optimal prepa- ration of the material in the SMART feeder and excellent degassing in the C-VAC module, this process already ex- tracts a large part of the smell during extrusion, and the Smell Extraction Unit (SEU) further enhances the quality of the final pellet. Avangard Innovative has a long history in trading LDPE film that it obtains from a variety of sources, and expand- ing into processing this film seemed like the next logical step. In March 2017, the company announced the open- ing of a brand-new LDPE film recycling plant for post-con- sumer waste at its existing facility in Houston. Amajor rea- son for venturing into film recycling is availability of input material – an evaluation of material streams showed PE film to be available in large quantities (up to 100 million pounds of film per year). Another reason is the advance- ment of recycling technology over the past years; due to cutting-edge extrusion and filtration systems, washing is no longer an absolute necessity for the recycling of post- consumer film. With a second Starlinger line being in- stalled early this year, Avangard is all set to supply the US market with odorless, high-quality regranulate. Starlinger & Co. Ges.m.b.H. www.starlinger.com Post-consumer PE FilmRecycling – also in South Africa now The first large-scale plant for the recycling of heavily contami- nated PE filmwaste has now started running in Germiston South, near Johannesburg. Delivered by HERBOLDMECKESHEIM, the plant can process up to 8,000 tons per year of film, used big bags and similar waste. The waste coming in bales are pre-sorted, shredded and foreign bod- ies are separated by means of a pre-washing unit in which also a first washing takes place. Afterwards, further contaminations are dissolved in a wet granu- lator under intensive friction; a subsequent friction washer sepa- rates the dirty water from the product. A hydro cyclone separates foreign plastics and specifically heavy contaminations from the target fraction. This separation process has a particularly high separation effect and ensures the high quality of the produced film flakes. In two drying steps, centrifugal dryer and hot air dryer, the prod- uct reaches a residual humidity which is suitable for the further material processing to pellets in a downstream extruder. With this recycled material high quality film can be produced. HERBOLD MECKESHEIM GmbH www.herbold.com Charles Müller (Managing Director) and Deon Swart (Technical Manager in front of the HERBOLD plant