CONTROLS AND MONITORING | TECHNOLOGY


Keeping on top of quality in PCR waste streams


Plastics recycling can now rely on sophisticated inline control and measurement systems to help adjust processes to produce high quality recyclates. Suppliers are also specialising in colour and sorting controls, writes Mark Holmes


The increased demand for higher quality recycled plastics to meet the needs of brand users looking for sustainable options, and the wider drive towards the circular economy, puts greater pressure on recycling and recompounding machinery and systems. Increasingly sophisticated measurement and control systems are now available to monitor the recycling process and make adjustments to maintain high product quality. Many of these systems are now being developed to work inline to ensure that the production process can continue uninterrupted and maintain high throughputs. A wide range of properties can now be monitored, such as rheological properties, residual moisture content and colour, for example.


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com Recycling of polymers provides a strong case for


process monitoring because incoming materials vary significantly, according to ColVisTec – the German manufacturer of inline systems for moni- toring of polymer extrusion. Attempting to control this process through sporadic sampling and laboratory analysis will not provide the data to control these complex extrusion processes. The company says that it is only by converting this to stable end-products that good prices and high-end reuse can be achieved. There are also other factors driving adaptation of


inline measurement including shorter development cycles, smaller batch sizes, and the need for stable production cycles. In these cases, says ColVisTec,


November/December 2021 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 39


Main image: Inline measure- ment and control surpasses sampling and lab testing


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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