K2025 | EXHIBITION PREVIEW


injection moulding to benefit from the advantages of infrared heating,” said Urban Stricker, the company’s founder. For common materials such as PA, PC, PMMA and


ABS, the company provides standardised Bird 5 series machines. Throughput capacity is 4-100 kg/h for deep drying to specifications below 200-1,000 ppm. The drying time for this continuous process is 3-30 minutes, depending on the material and task. This saves over 90% of time and uses up to 70% less energy compared to previous drying methods, says the company. Switching to different materials is done in minutes by changing the rotary drum. Bird says its technology also helps in the


material in applications such as window profiles, cladding and pipes – it is “time to reassess and re-engineer its role for the future”, says the company. In terms of environmental impact PVC is not wholly sourced from ethylene and – because chlorine is such a crucial component – it can help to cut greenhouse gas emissions, it adds. “However, its biggest and most important


environmental contribution lies in its great poten- tial for recycling,” said Luc Mertens, CEO of Benvic. “By emphasising recycled content, we can mitigate carbon loss through landfilling and incineration – and cut greenhouse gas emissions.”


Benvic aims is to establish an in-house mechani-


cal recycling process that yields secondary raw material (SRM) with good traceability, thorough legacy additive assessments, colour sorting, and specialised testing. Even this may not create an SRM that meets the


rigorous demands of end applications, but Benvic says its recycler-compounder model can help it maintain product consistency and performance. � www.benvic.com


Bird Machinery will unveil its latest advances in the heating and drying of plastics at K2025. The company makes compact infrared rotary drum (IRD) devices to treat bulk materials, includ- ing pellets, regrind, flakes, and powders. This makes the technology accessible for smaller throughputs. The technology claims to offer advantages over conventional hot-air drying methods for bulk materials, including: 90% time savings; up to 70% in energy savings; and fast changeover times, for high flexibility. “We have adapted IRD technology from large- scale plants for smaller throughputs, allowing


www.filmandsheet.com


preparation and pre-processing of materials for compounding and recycling. When combining multiple components, homogenising the melt can be challenging due to differing melting points – which Bird’s targeted in-line pre-heating of specific fractions can solve. For over two years, one client has been using a


Bird device in the continuous production of thick PET films for vacuum forming. The films are made from a blend of 10-15% C-PET virgin material, in-house A-PET recyclate, and external mixed bottle flakes. The differing melting points of the fractions make


extrusion very difficult. C-PET can contain up to 70% crystalline content. The higher this percentage, the higher the temperature required for melting. C-PET must be heated to 280°C, while A-PET melts at 240°C. If the overall melt temperature rises to 280 °C, A-PET content begins to degrade. The in-house material is entirely amorphous, while the post-consumer flakes are partially amorphous. This can lead to exponential material degradation. If the amorphous components of the formulation start to decompose before the crystal- line content has melted, the upcycling advantage of PET is lost. Targeted pre-treatment of the C-PET virgin


material with a Bird device reduces the melting temperature of the overall formulation by 3-6°C. This keeps the overall system below the critical 280°C, which improves transparency and material strength and reduces yellowing. The client achieved a 20 kg/h increase in product


yield by reducing filtrate – and the device paid for itself within a few months, says Bird. Other ongoing tests include reducing odours in recyclates. � www.birdmachinery.de


Clariant says its AddWorks PPA product line is a new generation of PFAS-free polymer processing aids for polyolefin extrusion. It addresses the industry’s growing need for


September 2025 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 39


Left: The Bird 5’s targeted in-line pre- heating helped a client to upcycled mixed PET fractions


IMAGE: BIRD MACHINERY


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