Following the installation of Bühler’s fully integrated optical sorting station, Poly Recycling GmbH confirms it achieved a full return on investment (ROI) in just six months.
Buhler
The installation, which included three SORTEX optical sorters for the separation and sorting of recycled plastic flakes at its plant in Weinfelden, Switzerland, was a significant step forward for Poly Reycling and a milestone in Bühler’s continuing development of its optical sorting capabilities for the plastics recycling industry.
The optical sorting station, the first of its kind in the industry, has enabled Bühler to widen its portfolio in the plastics sector, moving beyond single machine installations to fully integrated optical sorting stations. This solution, integrating separation and sorting steps in the processing line, includes plant engineering, sorting technology, mechanical separation machinery, pneumatic conveyors, pre-conditioners and auxiliary equipment.
The installation has provided Poly Recycling with a processing line capable of sorting a wide range of polymer, colour and PET products, to create plastic flakes of a higher quality standard than previously possible for its customers. This is a significant development for plastic recycling processors who are increasingly required to remove unwanted polymers together with unwanted colours and foreign materials, including flakes coated with glue or adhesives, loose paper labels, aluminium and ferrous metals. It also enables multinational food and beverage companies to meet the demands of the food industry for high quality food grade recycled rPET products and increasing the use of recycled materials in plastic packaging.
The company sought Bühler’s help to increase the capacity and quality of its rPET flake sort at its Swiss facility, which is now sorting at over 3 tonnes per hour, as well as enhancing its material sorting capabilities to overcome the issue of PVC contamination from labels on rPET bottles using newly developed PVC Label Reductions Kits. Three years on, the company has significantly expanded its business by providing its high-quality plastics flakes to a wide range of new sectors. Previously supplying the food industry, where recycled plastics flakes were used to produce food packaging and beverage bottles, cosmetics products packaging, as well as films, containers and strapping, the use of Poly Recycling’s plastic flakes has now been extended to the clothing and automotive industries, where the product is used in the production of airbags, seat belts, insulation mats and air filters.
Speaking about the success of the installation, Casper van de Dungen, Managing Director of Poly Recycling GmbH and Vice-President of Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE), said: "Since the installation, there have been no issues with our Bühler optical sorting line. The equipment has been running 24 hours a day and seven days a week with no breakdowns. We’ve not only been able to improve the quality of our plastic flakes but have reduced the wastage of good product during processing, resulting in a return on our investment in just six months."
Bernhard Gabauer, Segment Development Manager for Plastics at Bühler, said: "The partnership with Poly Recycling demonstrates Bühler’s commitment to develop state of the art, innovative optical sorting solutions for the plastics industry and is an acknowledgement of our global capabilities to supply complete process engineering solutions, driven by industry research and technical excellence. By choosing Bühler for its fully integrated optical sorting solution, Poly Recycling is well positioned to further expand its industrial processing of rPET beverage containers to high-quality Poly rPET flakes. Since the installation, we’ve been working closely with a number of leading plastic processors across Europe to install our optical sorting station and look forward to extending our solutions further to the wider plastics recycling sector."
The creation of the fully integrated optical sorting station marks an important step for the Bühler team, as it extends its reach to plastics processors, looking to achieve greater recycling rates. This is particularly important at a time when many plastics recyclers are looking to adapt to more advanced, cost-effective and energy efficient processes. With the new fully integrated optical sorting station available from Bühler, processors in the plastics recycling industry are no longer required to source separate elements from multiple suppliers and can source a highly efficient and innovative plastic processing line from one supplier.
This significant installation is further evidence of Bühler's reputation as the number one technology partner of choice in optical sorting solutions and demonstrates Bühler’s significant investment in its customer partnerships, technical innovations and localised service and support, which is serving the demands for processing and optical sorting solutions from processors around the world.