RECYCLING | TECHNOLOGY
Recycling begins at home
Using regrind saves injection moulders money and can help meet recycling and sustainability targets. However, getting quality regrind requires the right machinery. Mark Holmes looks at new
granulators and hybrid machines
The importance of regrind in the injection mould- ing procees continues to grow. Many operators now see how in-house recycling can not only provide a valuable financial return, but also meet environmental and sustainability targets by producing products with recyclate content. Many equipment manufacturers are now developing efficient, reliable and flexible shredders and granulators to meet these needs in the injection moulding shop. Wittmann Group has introduced new models in the S-Max series of screenless granulators. The S-Max 2, S-Max 2 Plus and S-Max 3 are low speed granulators for the inline-recycling of sprues made of hard and brittle engineering resins. Depending on the granulator model, a material throughput of 12, 20 or 30 kg per hour can be reached. The company says that the past 20 years has seen a shift in the attitude and practice of plastics proces- sors to waste – in regard to both their own in-house waste, and also in using plastics recyclate in finished products. Choosing a granulator or particle resizer can be critical to success. According to Wittmann, while increased environ- mental considerations have played a part in these developments, ‘green’ factors continue to come to the fore. Not only that but plastics processors are
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also making greater efforts with regard to in-house recycling and material savings. Many end-users are now asking for products made from recyclate. The company adds that most processors need
a constant quantity of dust-free and high-quality regrind at a constant size, which is the main priority. However, other important requirements include dust sealing, modular design, easy and safe cleaning, efficient and effective power drive design, low noise and compact footprint. Opera- tional safety is also important. In order to meet these industry needs, Wittmann adds that the new granulators produce less noise, save more energy, have a more compact footprint, need less mainte- nance, are equipped with hardened cutting tools, provide for easy cleaning and maintenance, and also have excellent safety features. The S-Max series models are specifically designed for the closed-loop recycling of sprues and runners from injection moulding machines with up to 300 tonnes of clamping force, says the company. The S-Max is a portable piece of equip- ment which allows for great versatility and can be moved easily from one moulding machine to another. An interface also enables full communica- tion with the injection moulding machine. As an option, a special shutdown function is available:
Main image: SMS Series granulators from Herbold have been redesigned to cope with the most demand- ing heavy-duty size reduction applications in a single step
July/August 2018 | INJECTION WORLD 49
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