Extrusion International 5-2023

57 Extrusion International 5/2023 CHEMICAL RECYCLING – INTERVIEW in the primary section of the die – when the extrudate first emerges from the die's distribution capillaries. A properly designed and manufactured die has even dis- tribution close to the extrudate entrance point, but this effort is negated once the die is adjusted, shifting the extrudate off to one side. An eccentric cone is formed in the primary area, and a concentric cone exists at only one point in the process, rather than a smooth, con - tinuous flow path with decreasing volume. A properly manufactured and aligned extruded head, along with well-maintained tooling should require little or no ad- justment. Another adverse affect of unnecessary die adjustment is the stress introduced to the extrudate caused by unbalanced flow. The net effect is the final product retains memory of this imbalance and unpre- dictable die swell occurs. Company Profile Guill Tool & Extrusion Co., Inc. has supplied quality extrusion tooling since 1962. First established as a free- standing support facility for the wire and cable industry, the company has expanded its product line to include fixed or adjustable center crosshead and inline tubing dies for the demands of our customer markets, includ - ing medical, electronics, defense and aerospace. All crossheads and inline dies are available for multi-layer applications. Guill Tool & Engineering Co., Inc. 10 Pike Street, West Warwick, RI 02893, USA www.Guill.com "Recyclates from chemical recycling will be more expensive than virgin material" Interview with Manfred Hackl (CEO) and Klaus Lederer (Business Development Manager) of EREMA Group Mechanical recycling processes have already matured. Chemical recycling is comparatively young. But will it be able to establish itself? Klaus Lederer: There is every indication that it will, and the demand is certainly there. The big brands need solutions for their packaging, public pressure is in - creasing, and the EU's recycling targets are very high. Chemical recycling could possibly make a contribution in that regard; however, some open questions remain. One challenge is, for example, to have the correct input material in the correct qual- ity and quantity at the correct location. Some chemical recyclers will be able to solve this problem, others will not. It is also not clear at present whether chemical recycling will make sense economically. Those who expect recyclates from chemi- cal recycling to be cheaper than virgin material will be disappointed. However, if you consider it a valuable fac - tor to keep the raw material in the cycle at least, even if it is expensive and energy-intensive, it can still make sense. There are also currently multiple pros and cons concerning the question of whether chemical recycling benefits the environment. For a more accurate assess - ment of chemical recycling, we will have to wait until the first truly commercial plants are up and running. Some say chemical recycling consumes much more energy than mechanical recycling, others disagree. What is your view? Lederer: It's a question of perspective. If you say that plastic is an energy carrier, and a large part of the re - quired process energy can come from the plastic it- self, then the energy con - sumption is lower than often claimed. But if you take into account that much more energy has to be put into it than in mechanical re- CHEMAREMA