Extrusion International 6-2023-USA

56 Extrusion International 6/2023 RECYCLING – CASE STUDY 10-Year Anniversary – A Partnership Built on Trust Lindner Washtech and Bulgarian plastics recycling company Vadias Recycling are looking back on a 10-year anniversary and, together with Erema, on a successful partnership that has lasted just as long. Back in 2013, when the company had already more than 5 years of experience in the industry, Vadias commissioned the first-ever Lindner Washtech washing line, which was then put into operation in 2014, followed by a second unit just a few years later. Erema extruders have been used for granulate production ever since then. To this day, the cooperation between the three companies has always been characterised by trust, high quality and enthusiasm for innovative recycling solutions. T he increased use of plastics in a range of industries, in particular the packaging sector, led to a strong up- turn in the recycling industry in the 2010s. Legal provi- sions, regulations and collection systems began to take shape, the concept of the circular economy and sus- tainable resource management gained in importance, and the international trade with plastics waste began to grow. Together with Lindner Washtech and Erema, Vadias Recycling rec- ognised the changes on the market and the importance of recycled plastics early on. From the very start, the focus of Vadias, a plastics recycling company headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, was on LLDPE & LDPE pack - aging film, already produced in large quantities at the time. Essentially, these are plastics and/or packaging materials that today are primarily sourced from the dual system and that generally have a high degree of con- tamination. In addition to organic residue, most films also come with labels and residue of aluminium film. The process starts with cleaning and processing plastic flakes and continues all the way to extrusion, with the underlying concept, the washing components and the wash quality being crucial factors. The first system for processing packaging film was designed for 1,000 kg/h – the second one, supplied in 2018, for 1,500 kg/h. “For us, the anniversary of Vadias From the very start, the focus of the Bulgarian recycling company Vadias Recycling was on the recycling of LLDPE & LDPE films from the dual system – that is, plastics film with a high degree of contamination and soiling. The Lindner Washtech concept and its shredding, washing and drying components make the flakes perfectly prepared for the downstream processes. Erema extruders guarantee the required granulate quality (Copyright: Lindner Washtech) Vadias, Lindner Washtech and Erema look back on a successful 10-year partnership. In addition, Vadias and Lindner Washtech both celebrate their 15th and 10th company anniversaries. On the photo: Clemens Kitzberger (Erema Group), Jochen Zweckmayr (Erema), Asparouh Asparouhov (Vadias), Vasil Asparouhov (Vadias), Harald Hoffmann and Georg Krenn (Lindner Washtech) (Copyright: Vadias Recycling)