Extrusion International 5-2023-USA

32 Extrusion International 5/2023 32 INDUSTRY NEWS Cooperation The topic of plastics recycling has received a tremen- dous amount of media attention recently. Higher recy- cling rates, improved collection systems and more ef - ficient processing facilities ensure that plastic waste is recycled and repurposed. Yet, there is much work left to be done and much plastic still goes unrecycled. Unifi, the world’s leading manufacturer of recycled high-per- formance fibers, is making a difference. To date, the company has transformed 35 billion plastic bottles into its proprietary REPREVE® recycled fiber. Unifi’s pro - cess ensures that plastics are returned to the consumer goods cycle as a valuable raw material and promotes a more circular and sustaniable economy. When Unifi was looking for a reliable partner to set up an efficient shredding process in 2018, they chose shredding solutions from Lindner. Today a total of three Lindner Micromat 2000 prepare plastic and textile waste for its journey to extrusion, spinning and finally winding the fibers used by some of the world’s best- known brands. Scott Trivette, Operations Manager of the Repreve® Recycling Centre and Future Innovation Centre in Yadkinville, North Carolina, describes the re - lationship with Lindner as “a great partnership, which we require because of our 24/7/365 operating model. A provider who can only be there for us between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. just doesn’t work for us. We need answers within hours, not days, and Lindner with its hub in Statesville, NC is always there for us.” The Lindner shredders from the Micromat series are specially designed for the requirements of post-com- mercial and post-consumer plastics recycling. They have strong, high-torque motors for powerful shredding and are designed and built to optimize uptime and stream- line maintenance tasks. “The lightning-fast safety clutch offers optimum machine protection and easy access to the rotor means that non-shreddables can be removed quickly and easily,” Trivette states. He continues that Unifi found the perfect solution in Lindner’s technol - ogy and service: “Lindner’s machines have enabled us to minimize downtime and maximize the throughput of the entire plant, which is essential with an average pro - duction of 1.5 million pounds of resin per week.” Lindner www.lindner.com REPREVE ® www.repreve.com At Unifi, Inc. three Lindner Micromat 2000 work 24/7/365 to prepare plastics and textile waste for its journey to extrusion, spinning and finally winding the fibers (Images Copyright: Lindner Recyclingtech) As a sustainable company, Lindner emphasizes the use of recycled materials for employee benefits such as the Lindner backpack or the Lindner west. The recycled fibre Repreve® has a unique status – not least due to the fact that Lindner technology is used during the production process New Version of Polymer Extrusion Die Design Software Released Improved Accuracy of the Level-Set Method for Coextrusion Simulation The software module for the level-set method for simulation of the flow in multi-layer coextrusion dies has been completely rewrit- ten to largely improve the accura- cy of the predicted layer structure. For most coextrusion dies, both coextrusion simulation techniques in polyXtrue, level-set method and mesh partitioning technique, now give almost the same layer struc- ture in the final product. Robust- ness of the level-set algorithm for simulating the flow in different types of coextrusion dies has also been improved in the new version of the software. Symmetry Condition for Post-Die Extrudate Distortion Simulation The algorithm for enforcing the symmetry condition in post-die ex- trudate distortion has been updat-