Extrusion International USA 3-2020

14 Extrusion International 3/2020 INDUSTRY NEWS ALBA Group www.alba.info In March 2020, the centre of competence for plastics re- cycling of environmental services provider Interseroh in Maribor, Slovenia, was awarded its official international ac- creditation. This means it is the only recognised research in- stitution in the EU to have specialised on the development and analysis of recycled plastics. It is therefore setting the bar throughout Europe with the implementation of uniform standards of quality. “When it comes to supplying industry with good quality re- cycled raw materials, this is an important step forwards,” explains Dr. Manica Ulcnik-Krump, Head of Business Unit Recycled-Resource at INTERSEROH Dienstleistungs GmbH. “The international accreditation according to laboratory standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017 confirms the considerable tech- nical know-how of our centre of competence, and creates transparency and confidence in the market.” The standard sets the general requirements regarding the competence, impartiality and operation of laboratories. In fulfilling the standard, they can demonstrate that they achieve valid re- sults and ensure their international acceptance. The research centre inMaribor has fulfilled all the requirements of the Slo- venian accreditation body Slovenska akreditacija (SA). Interseroh has been operating the centre of competence for plastics recycling in Maribor, which has developed into a renowned research and innovation facility, since 2016. In 2017, the environmental services provider was awarded the Slovenian Environmental Prize for the development of its Recycled-Resource upcycling process. Among others, the accreditation confirmed that Interseroh fulfils the international requirements regarding the mechan- ical and physical analyses of plastics. The standardised test procedures serve to improve the long-term stability of the mechanical and thermal characteristics of the material – and therefore its suitability for sophisticated applications. Technical Know-How for Quality Standards Sesotec GmbH www.sesotec.com Plastics processors know-how important the utilization and uptime of expensive equipment such as injection mould- ing machines, extruders and blow moulding machines is for their business. Avoiding unscheduled downtimes caused, for example, by metal contaminants in the granulate is an absolute must. Therefore, metal detectors have become an important component in production lines of the plastics in- dustry. The white paper “Two important factors when buying a met- al detector for plastics processing machines” from Sesotec is about answering two questions that are often not given enough attention when buying a metal detector, apart from detection accuracy and price: 1. How easy is it to install the metal detector in the produc- tion line? 2. How easy is the operation of the device for employees? The white paper also contains a checklist to check whether a metal detector is both easy to install and easy to operate. The white paper can be downloaded from the Sesotec web- site at Metal Detector for Plastics Machinery – It has to be Simple In the white paper Sesotec provides answers to the requirements that should be met by installation- and user-friendly metal detectors (Photo: Sesotec GmbH) https://www.sesotec.com/emea/en/resources/blog/impor- tant-factors-when-buying-a-metal-detector-for-plastics-pro- cessing-machines Centre of competence for plastics recycling inMaribor ( © ALBA Group)