GRANULATORS | SIZE REDUCTION
Renewed focus on granulator benefits
Granulator companies are answering customer demand for units that handle bulky or hard scrap, or are more versatile, less noisy and easier to maintain. David Eldridge reports on new products
A granulator is a familiar piece of equipment on the production floor of injection moulders, extruders, blow moulders and thermoformers. But their familiarity belies advances made by manufacturers who are responding to rising demand for recycling of waste plastics. Suppliers recognise the growing need for technologies that can granulate all sorts and sizes of plastic scrap arising from in-house processes, and they are developing units tailored to the needs of different processors and recyclers that reprocess production waste. Wittmann Group, the Austrian manufacturer
of injection moulding machines and auxiliary equipment, says: “The past twenty years have seen a shift in the attitude and practice of plastics processors 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. “Clearly increased environmental considera- tions have played a part in these developments. ‘Green’ factors continue to come to the fore. Not only that but plastics processors are also making greater efforts with regard to in-house recycling and material savings. Companies are realising that they too must also keep up with current social trends. Many end-user customers today are asking for products made from recyclate. It makes good business sense to supply them with the same.” At Fakuma 2018, Wittmann exhibited its new S-Max series of screenless granulators for engineer- ing plastics. The company has been supplying auxiliary equipment, including granulators, to injection moulders for a long time and has devel- oped an approach that takes in their needs when it comes to regranulating process scrap. It said: “Most processors need a constant quantity of dust-free
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and high-quality regrind at a constant size. This is the main priority. But there are of course some more important issues: dust sealing, modular design, easy and safe cleaning, efficient and effective power drive design, low noise and compact footprint. Opera- tional safety is also very important.” Wittmann says it has developed several industry “firsts” to meet these criteria. It says its granulators “produce less noise, save more energy, have a more compact footprint, need less maintenance, are equipped with hardened cutting tools, provide for easy cleaning and maintenance, and also have excellent safety features”. The new S-Max 2, S-Max 2 Plus and S-Max 3 machines are low speed granulators for the inline-recycling of hard engineering plastics scrap, including material with glass reinforcement.
� November/December 2018 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 29
Main image: Granulators have been designed to handle different types of plastic scrap
PHOTO: TRIA PLASTICS
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