TECHNOLOGY | SIZE REDUCTION
Above: Shredded copper and plastic mix to be granulated shows material arising from a WEEE recovery process
previously would not have been worth the per- ceived effort. For example, POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) are chemicals of global concern, and their presence in the plastic casings of electronic products, for instance, limits the reuse, recycling and energy recovery potential of the WEEE stream if it is contaminated. However, innovative processors are now collaborating with technology providers to engineer lines that can safely and compliantly handle these problematic materials. Different types of plastics require different
Right: A compact
Untha plastic shredder
shredding technologies, complete with applica- tion-specific cutting configurations, power and output sizing capabilities, as well as compatibility with downstream equipment. “Shredders need to adapt to suit the plastic challenge, not the other way around, and the more forward-thinking of manufacturers have acknowledged that one size does not fit all,” says Brew. “Operationally, there is a demand for shredding technology that can achieve impressive throughputs efficiently, to protect output quality, operator safety and profitability. But there is a growing search for flexibility too, as flexibility in the equipment will enable operators to generate maximum return from their shredder investment. A number of Untha customers are now batch processing one plastic stream for recycling, destruction, energy recovery or gasification, then cleaning down and reconfiguring their shredder in as little as one hour, so the plant can undertake another plastics project. Thanks to shredding advancements this need not be difficult, or costly.” The Untha XR shredder technology is well known in the waste and biomass markets, and it has also made great strides when handling plastics. For example, film is an extremely difficult material to process in high volumes, but the company says that the XR can achieve good results because it does not need to operate at high speeds and does
14 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | May/June 2020
not produce much heat which could otherwise cause the product to melt. In addition, the same machine frame and shredding technology can be equipped with a slightly different rotor configura- tion to process tough rigid plastics with metal content. Untha adds that it is also investing in support services to aid customer liaison and has recently launched a series of new service and planned preventative maintenance packages. Untha says that the use of the XR globally has continued to increase and it has seen processors achieve more than the company had previously thought possible with a single shaft machine. It has now designed a variation of this machine intended specifically for a plastics stream that will be launched in mid-2020. The shredder will contain the same operational benefits as the XR, but with a rotor and drive concept that will expand what is possible when it comes to plastic processing and make a major impact in the environmental sector. At the end of 2019, Untha announced an involvement in the UK’s first category-3 licensed waste plant, able to transform anaerobic digestion (AD) and blood plastics into a clean secondary material for remanufacturing. The 4-acre site in East Yorkshire is a joint venture between Recyk and Meplas. With more than ten years’ experience in the Chinese plastics manufacturing industry, Meplas has long been aware of the value of secondary materials. However, when China closed the door on waste imports, founder Michael Guo started exploring ways to treat even the most complex of plastics, at source, overseas.
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www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
IMAGE: UNTHA
IMAGE: UNTHA
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