Extrusion International 2-2020

49 Extrusion International 2/2020 Circular Economy – Pelletizing High-Quality Polyamide made from Multi-Layer Packaging Waste in Newcycling ® Process Nordson’s BKG ® Melt Delivery and Pelletizing Components Transform Purified Polyamide from APK AG Process into Resins Comparable to Virgin Technical Polymers Nordson Corporation www.nordson.com APK www.apk-ag.de to BKG melt delivery and pelletizing components for production of APK’s Mersamid ® polyamide resins. The BKG equipment includes a Blue- Flow™ gear pump, HiCon™ screen changer, polymer diverter valve, un- derwater pelletizer andMaster-Line™ process water / pellet dryer system. “Our Mersamid ® products are intend- ed for demanding technical applica- tions as alternatives to virgin plastics,” said Florian Riedl, Director of Business Development for APK. “Nordson’s BKG pelletizing and melt delivery equipment contributes to meeting our requirement for high-quality granulates with homogeneous prop- erties. In addition, these systems help us achieve a level of production effi- ciency that is consistent with our sus- tainability approach.” Elsewhere in Europe, Florian Riedl noted, APK will build a second New- cycling ® plant, with a capacity of 20,000 tons, for processing of mixed filmwaste of post-consumer origin. an annual capacity of 8,000 tons and is used for separating polyethylene and polyamide from multi-layer pack- aging films (post-industrial source). The Newcycling ® process produces the polymers in purified form by shredding the waste, using solvents to selectively dissolve the plastics, sep- arating liquid and solid components, purifying the polymer, and remov- ing the solvent for reuse in the pro- cess. An extruder delivers polyamide APK AG has deployed a complete downstream melt processing system from Nordson Corporation for use with its innovative Newcycling ® pro- cess, which carries out the dictates of the circular economy by transforming mixed andmulti-layer waste into puri- fied polymer with properties close to virgin resin. The first Newcycling ® plant, located in Merseburg, Germany, began com- mercial operation in June 2019 with PELLETIZING Newcycling®plant atMerseburg, Germany FlorianRiedl, director of business development atAPKAG BKG ® HiCon™K-SWE-4K-75-RS screen changer