Extrusion International USA 3-2019

34 Extrusion International 3/2019 RECYCLING, COMPOUNDING Regeneration of Heavily printed Ground Film with Tandem Line GammaMeccanica SpA, an Italian company specialized in the production of lines for the regeneration of plastic materials, has developed Tandem technology to meet the specific needs of processors or recyclers who want to recover materials that otherwise (not being profitable and difficult to recycle) would be destined for landfill. With Tandem technology it is possible to recycle the materials that is normally mixed with other materials. Sometimes this can also requires the use of additives significantly affecting the final price of the granule as it is re-extruded with high production costs Leaf polypropylene (or ground film) from industrial waste is one of these materials: it is difficult to recycle be- cause of print coverage greater than 100% on one side and aluminum on the other. An example of this mate- rial is the chocolate and hazelnut cream snack packaging of a well- known multinational food company. The thickness (or gauge) of this film is very thin: 15 to 20 µm where the ex- ternal part is printed with several lay- ers of superimposed ink that makes recycling very difficult. Thanks to Gamma Meccanica’s Tan- dem lines recyclers or processors can recover this material with a 100% yield, without the additional drying and antioxidant process. The func- tioning of two extruders arranged in succession ensures a uniform gran- ule composition. With an innovative degassing system installed on the Tandem lines, the surface of mate- rial exposed to the action of vacuum is 10 times greater than in a normal extruder. This guarantees the extrac- tion of large quantities of gas pro- duced during the process avoiding the inclusion of gas in the granules. The process does not stress the ma- terial which, as confirmed by labora- tory tests, does not degrade, nor re- quires the use of additives. The final result is a granule of excellent quality at low production costs. Gamma Meccanica offers different models of Tandem line according to the production needs. The produc- tion capacity of a GM 160 Tandem with this type of material is 1200 to 1300 kg / h of recycled PP granules. AI Compound, the polymer division of Agricola Imballaggi: over twenty years in the regeneration of plastic materials AGM160 Tandem linewas purchased by the Italian company Agricola Im- ballaggi for its AI Compound divi-