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TH Plastics
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TH Plastics
In summer 2014 Naylor Drainage - a leading British manufacturer of construction products, including plastic drainage and ducting - was on the lookout to secure an in-house recycling solution.
Historically, the company had outsourced the recycling of its scrap plastic, but the business felt the time was right for its first ever on-site pelletising system at its Barnsley plant to pelletise its scrap polymer flake for re-use.
Naylor knew that an in-house recycling solution would enable it to improve its green credentials, precluding the need for the extensive transport – and associated costs - involved in outsourcing. The main challenge was to find a solution that could work within Naylor’s existing system, as the flake produced had to be of the right format to facilitate re-use.
Trusted partner
TH Plastics develops, supplies, installs and supports ancillary solutions for the plastics industry and the company has a five-year working relationship with Naylor, standing TH in good stead when it bid for the project earlier this year.
Naylor’s Production Manager Kevin Naden said: "Very few of the projects TH Plastics had previously worked on for us involved solutions that could be sourced off-the-shelf, but on each occasion, the team used its knowledge and flexibility to develop the perfect result. And we’d always been impressed with the firm’s technical knowledge and service. It was a given that it would be invited to pitch for the recycling project."
Finding a solution
TH Plastics was the only short-listed supplier to be able to prove the efficacy of its solution prior to the contract being awarded. At no extra cost, the supplier took the customer to Italy and trialled its proposed tailor-made system using Naylor’s product. It then returned to the UK and successfully ran the flake back into the customer’s system, effectively proving the concept of its pelletising line.
TH Plastics’ bespoke winning solution featured a new regrind pelletising system, water-cooling and material handling systems, as well as some of Naylor’s existing equipment. Post installation, TH Plastics fine-tuned the solution to ensure that it met Naylor’s changing requirements.
All the work was undertaken within the stipulated timescale, and there was no downtime in production. The company also ran in-house customer training sessions and continues to be available to provide support on request.
Mission accomplished
The project was completed on time this spring and the system has been in operation since May 2014. TH Plastics’ work was recognised in the 2014 Plastics Industry Awards ancillary partnership category.
As well as improving Naylor’s green credentials and removing the transport costs associated with outsourced recycling, TH Plastics’ solution also enabled the company to improve and control the quality of its recycled product via the elimination of any risk of cross-contamination.
Naden added: “This was a brand new system for us and we were on a massive learning curve. We relied heavily on TH Plastics’ knowledge and support, but knew we were in safe hands.
“They provided a complete turnkey solution, including solution design, prototype testing, equipment supply, installation, training and on-going maintenance and support.”
TH Plastics’ Managing Director Lee Thomas noted: “Our goal is always to work in partnership with customers to create bespoke solutions offering optimum production efficiency, minimal waste and cost and enhanced product quality, integrating seamlessly into existing customer systems.
“We are delighted to have been able to deliver to Naylor a recycling solution that meets all these criteria.”
