What's new in recycling.

You'll get a good overview of available hardware systems, some of it operating--e.g., "recycling" film extruded at other booths, so that it can be extruded again at the show.

Recycling and waste reduction have been designated the theme of NPE '91. Consequently, this special section has been added to our pre-show report, including both new recycling hardware and recycled materials. Note that "recycling" here is taken to mean primarily post-consumer plastics reclaim. For conventional in-plant scrap handling, see the Materials Handling feature. For exhibits of recycled resins, see Materials feature.

HYDROCYCLONES ARE 'IN'

One of the most exciting displays will be the first public view of most of John Brown's turnkey system for postconsumer plastics (see PT, April '90, p. 125). This mostly static display replicates a 1000-lb/hr pilot unit that has been running customer trials at Brown's Plactics Recycling Systems Div. in Providence, R.I., since October.

The display shows a granulator from Brown's Cumberland Engineering Div.; an elutriator (paper separator); a new hydrocyclone to separate PET from PE; standard Powerflight extruder from Egan Machinery Div.; and water-ring pelletizer with automatic screen changer from Beringer Div. The hydrocyclone is specially built for the show with a cutaway for viewing.

Hydrocyclones, which began in the mining industry, are very musch the "in" thing today in plactics recycling. These units are said to be more efficient than paddle/flotation separation and to use far less water. A typical hydrocyclone system could use about a third the water of a commercial float-sink separator. Hydrocyclones are commonly used in series, so as material flows through each once or twice, it gets purer. Depending on the degree of contamination of the feedstock and the purity required for the end product, a recycling line might use two hydrocyclones for HDPE only, and four to six in series to separate HDPE and PET.

Only the hydrocyclone, extruder and pelletizer of Brown's line will run at the show, using recycled flake from a newly installed commercial John Brown system at Envirothene Inc., Chino, Calif. That system, rated at 2000 lb/hr, incorporates a dissolved-air flotation system to clean and reuse the water. Environthene's line cost about $1 million.

Herbold Granulators USA, Sutton, Mass., has new hydrocyclone separation technology for film, developed within the past six months by Refrakt Recycling, Herbold's new joint venture with a German specialist in separation technology. Herbold won't bring the hydrocyclone to the show, but it can be seen, however, in a new 10-minute video on PET bottle recycling.

Herbold's hydrocyclone is a conical device, which feeds recycled flake from the top, together with water, and spins until the material separates by density. Heavy PET goes out the bottom, light PE goes out the top. After one hydrocyclone separates the HDPE and PET, each stream passes through another one to three hydrocyclones. A hydrocyclone can be added as an upgrade to existing Herbold recycling lines at a typical cost of $250,000-500,000.

FILM RECYCLING LINE

It won't be ready in time to bring to the show, but Andritz Sprout Bauer, Muncy, Pa., will bring drawings and possibly a video of its new turnkey film recycling system. (The company was preciously part of Combustion Engineering, which was bought by Asea Brown Boveri of Sweden; then Sprout Bauer was spun off to an Austrian company, Andritz.)

Sprout Bauer's first pilot plant, designed for thin HDPE and PP film, is being built now and expected to start up this month. Much of the pilot line, like its granulator and fluff handling bin, is a simplified form of existing Sprout Bauer film-handling technology, the company says. The granulator, for instance, incorporates an existing wet-cut rotary knife cutter.

The washer is an entirely new unit, however. After washing, fluff goes through a Carter-Day dryer, then to Sprout Bauer's standard pellet mill, which forces it through dies until it's a dense agglomerate, 3/16-in. diameter by 1/4-in. long, something like rabbit-food pellets. "Physically it's not totally melted--inside the pellet is less dense," says a company spokesman. But it costs one-eighth as much as extruding pellets, he adds. A complete turnkey 1000 lb/hr wash/recycle system costs $450,000-500,000. The pellet mill costs $35,000-40,000.

NEW RECYCLING EXTRUDERS

Another display of film recycling equipment will be two booths operating machinery from FBM srl of Ferrara, Italy, which specializes in agricultural film recycling. The company will announce the formation of FBM/Future America, a North American joint venture between FBM and Future Design Inc., Brampton, Ontario, where the new firm is located.

At FBM's booth in the Italian wing of the show, an ME-E 70 turnkey reprocessing line will run with a 70-mm extruder, which reprocesses over 400 lb/hr of film. Future Design will run a Mini 60 S/4 reprocessing line with a 60 mm extruder. The Mini has a patented agitating silo that mechanically "folds" chopped film into a force-feed screw before it enters the extruder. The Mini 60 S/4, with manual screen changer, hot-face die cutter, water bath and pelletizer, costs about $110,000. Both booths will show an FBM video of film recycling in Italy. And FBM plans to "recycle" film extruded at other NPE displays.

For the North American market, FBM will assemble equipment using extruders and other major components from FBM in Italy and U.S. electrics and controls. Models will range from 200 to 2600 lb/hr. FBM Future America already has orders for two complete ME-E 120 systems, including washing units. One will process agricultural and post-consumer film in Michigan; the other, agricultural film in Florida. ME-E 120, with cold-water wash system and 120-mm extruder, costs $1.2-1.8 million.

Extrudaids, Ltd., a U.K. maker of complete recycling systems, will also show a new recycling extruder for the first time in the U.S. Extrudaids' U.S. agent, Action Industries Inc., Ellington, Conn., will run an Aqua Munchy XL100 continuously. The company plans to process film extruded at other booths so it can be blown again at the show.

XL100 is an unvented extruder, tapering from 180 mm diam. at the hopper to 100 mm at the output. It vents volatiles back out the hopper. XL100 machines are built in the U.K. with Reliance Electric motors and Allen-Bradley controls. The water-cooled XL100 Aqua Munchy costs $260,000; an air-cooled XL100 Munchy costs $220,000. Special feed hoppers, shredders, wash equipment and converyors are available at extra cost.

For example, Extrudaids offers a wash system for film and bottles, consisting of a conveyor to an underwater shredder (where detergent can be added to remove glue); then up a sharply angled dewatering screw, into open washing trays with stirring paddles (heated for milk bottles, but otherwise not); then to a second dewatering screw, centrifuge, and pelletizing extruder. There are said to be 12 Extrudaids washing lines in Europe and Asia, but none yet in North America.

Other interesting turnkey systems will be seen only in vedeos. Sorema Srl, the Italian maker of sprawling systems for recycling agricultural film, will bring a new video of its process. (See also Compounding section for more on scrap-reclaim extruders.)

BLOW MOLDERS RECYCLE

In a repetition of what was seen at K'89, blow modling machine suppliers will get into the recycling act with displays of new three-layer coextrusion hardware to permit incorporating a recycle layer in the middle of polyolefinbased containers (PT, Jan. '90, p. 83). Such displays will be presented by Johnson Controls Inc., Bekum Plastics Machinery Inc., Krupp Kautex, Hartig Plastics Machinery, and (with just a recycle-containing part) Battenfelf Fischer Blowmolding Machines, Inc. See Blow Molding feature for details.

RECYCLING FOR INJECTION

MOLDERS

At least two booths will display special hardware adaptations for use of recycled resins by injection molders. Gneuss Inc., Langhorne, Pa., will show what's said to be the first automatic continuous screen changer for injection machines. The SSF is a modification of the company's standard rotary filter and is said to fit any injection molding machine. Further details--such as how the device is supported on the machine barrel--were unavailable at press time.

Van Dorn Plastic Machinery Co., Strongville, Ohio, will also run equipment "dedicated to processing recycled material" at NPE. A standard 1000-ton Hydraulic Clamp injection molding machine will mold "a building product" at NPE, Van Dorn says.

SHREDDERS AND GRINDERS

Though there will be lots of granulating and size-reduction equipment at the show (see Materials Handling feature), most os if is aimed primarily at inplant scrap reclaiming rather than post-consumer recycling. Among the notable exceptions is a huge new specialty granulator to be displayed by Condux Inc., in Rockford, Ill. Model CS 800/1200-IIIA is designed to recycle steel-belted tires, car bumpers and polyurethane foam in conjunction with a shredder at a phenomenal rate of 16,000 lb/hr. It costs $180,000-$220,000.

SSI Shredding Systems Inc., Wilsonville, Ore., which has specialized in two-stage bulk-reduction machinery for municipal waste (PT, July '89, p. 47), will run a small Model 600 demo shredder/granulator system and also promote its large 3400-H shredder/granulator system. The latter loads unbroken bales with standard conveyer or space-saving vertical bale tipper. Initial shear shredding slices waste down to a uniform size, allowing more consistent processing through the granulator. The 3400-H shredder costs around $200,000, plus additional for the granulator, feeding and handling devices and processes 10-12 tons/hr.

Attending its first plastics show is another shear shredder manufacturer from West Linn, Ore. Eidal International has a patented vertical-rotor design that's quite different from plastics granulators. Eidal builds waste shredders with electric and hydraulic drives up to 2000 hp for processing up to 200 tons/hr (PT, Dec. '89, p. 79).

Another first-time exhibitor at a plastics show is Carpco Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., whose metal-detection and electrostatic separation equipment comes from mining and metallurgy industries. Carpco equipment is known to recyclers as part of the Rutgers University pilot recycling project, which includes a four-stage Carpco metal separation system (PT, July '89, p. 47).

At NPE, Carpco will run a smaller version of its HTE Series Electrostatic Separator rated at 2000-2500lb/hr. It reportedly reduces aluminum content in plastic scrap to less than 100 ppm and costs less than $95,000. Carpco will also show its ELPAC (electropneumatic aluminum concentrator), a second-stage metal detector/separator that reduces aluminum content to under 10 ppm and costs $57,000.