Extrusion International 5-2022

64 Extrusion International 5/2022 K 2022 Leading Plastics Recycling Towards a Circular Economy F or a long time, our economy has been dominated by a linear ap- proach under which raw materials are manufactured, processed, used once, and thrown away. But the fu- ture calls for a circular economy in which we reuse our products and recycle them efficiently at the end of their life. And that holds true for plastic as well. This is not a new top- ic, but it is one that has been gaining ground in recent years. While we recognize and appreci- ate the numerous applications and long-life cycle that plastics delivers, it is precisely these properties that sometimes generate challenges when recycling. Due to the experi - ence and knowledge gained over 25 years in the plastic recycling mar- ket, FIMIC knows all about recycling processes and what is really needed for efficient plastics recycling as part of a circular economy. With this know-ledge and a clear vision of its mission worldwide: the pro- tection of the environment through the proper recycling of plastic and its optimal reuse, FIMIC returns to K 2022 with a 76 m 2 stand based on the concept “Choose the future for your child”. The idea to take an active part in choosing a sustain- able future for future generations, will be narrated through a 3d vid- eo where the RAS melt filter is the protagonist. In this edition of the K Fair, FIMIC will have its entire team of experts, nine regional sales man - agers from all continents will give personal consultation to visitors, four technicians will be available for mechanical details about FIMIC’s melt filters technologies. This year FIMIC will focus its par- ticipation on the promotion of social and environmental awareness for the achievement of a real circular economy of plastics. As companies in this sector, the company also has the duty of giving advice to the custom- ers and in this period, also to those who want to enter this world, with little experience in the sector. Based on their experience and based on the material to be pro- cessed, FIMIC does not recommend the same filter based on just the type of material. The historic RAS melt fil- ter has reached the serial number 430. Versatile melt filter, sold all over the world, allows to handle the dirtiest materials on the market. To give some indications the company has come to remove 15% of paper, but obviously if talking about more aggressive contaminants, the per- centage is drastically reduced. In the case of metals or soil for example, it is reduced to 1% in order to work safely, with little risk of breakage or wear. In fact, the customers generally use 1 to 2 lasers per month, but those cus- tomers who decide to use the melt fil - ter to eliminate very high percentag- es of contamination, due to a poorly performing or non-existent washing, pay obviously much more for the filter maintenance. And the waste increases. In fact, the percentage of plastic waste generally is around 1%, but if we increase the contamination, the waste can also increase propor- tionally. RAS don’t need prefilters and reaches up to 2 tons of LDPE or HDPE with a single laser or punched screen, (different according to the fil - tration needed). In the event of an increase in hourly production, the GEM takes over, to reach up to 3 tons of LDPE or HDPE, obviously based on MFI or filtration. In this case we are talking about a TWIN filter, as the filter area of the RAS 700 (almost 4,000 cm2) has been increased by 35% with only two screens. GEM 600 in fact has 5500 cm 2 with only two screens. In the case of very high and proba- bly aggressive contaminations, there is also the possibility of installing the ERA, a melt filter with two filtra - tion chambers. This allows to avoid to have two filters in the same line, because ERA filters twice with in a single screen changer. RAS, GEM and ERA are therefore recommended for materials defined as post-consumer, while in this case, if we want to talk about post-indus- trial, the development of a filter suit - able for automatic but very fine and sensitive filtration has recently been completed. The TEN in fact uses the mesh belt, which is perfect for the filtration of low contaminated mate - rials (max 1%) and small in size. The TEN was recently installed in Italy and like many meshes, a manual protec- tion filter was recommended to the customer to avoid excessive con - sumption of the mesh for contamina- tions exceeding a millimeter. To complete the product range, in 2021 FIMIC also launched a new product, SPA. A pump dedicated to the world of recycling, as it avoids gears and use a single screw. In this way, a protective pre-filter is avoid - ed and extremely low maintenance costs are achieved. SPA will be in- stalled this year in Japan and Saudi Arabia on two twin screw extruders, and of course it will be our job to in- form you of the results immediately afterwards. FIMIC Srl. www.fimic.it K 2022: Hall 9, Stand B35