1. Recycling of plastic films
Starlinger
Recycling of plastic films
Moscow, January 25, 2012
Paul Niedl. Head of Sales- recycling technology ND

2. Table of content company introduction
Recycling of plastic films
Table of content
company introduction
film recycling: definitions and applications
machinery and equipment ND

3. Recycling of plastic films
company introduction ND

4. Family owned business, founded 1835 in Vienna
Recycling of plastic films
Family owned business, founded 1835 in Vienna
World leader in machinery for woven packaging
Diversified in Business Units
Recycling equipment since 1987 Business unit since 2002
550 employees in Austria (Vienna, Weißenbach)
Regional hubs for sales, service and parts
Turnover of appr. USD 250 million ND

5. Recycling of plastic films
recoSTAR basic
recoSTAR universal
recoSTAR PET iV+
viscoSTAR ND

6. film recycling: definitions and applications
Recycling of plastic films
film recycling: definitions and applications ND

7. Sources of waste- Definitions
Recycling of plastic films
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Sources of waste- Definitions
Production waste
- In house recycling
- Post industrial recycling
- Toll recycling
Post consumer waste ND

8. Issues inhouse recycling
Recycling of plastic films
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Issues inhouse recycling
Inline or Offline recycling?
Different shapes of waste (from light-weight blown film to hard-to-grind start-up lumps) needs to be handled
Recycling line has to be operated in addition to the production lines
Material management for waste has unfortunately not highest priority-
-but decent material management avoids contamination
High amount of re-granulate should be (directly) fed back into production line without influencing film quality
Edge-trim recycling must be completely automatic (e.g. stand-by mode when film line is stopped) ND

9. Issues post industrial recycling
Recycling of plastic films
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Issues post industrial recycling
Different materials: Quick changeover required
Mixing of different material from clients must be avoided- - if toll recycling
Mixing of different material to increase value or decrease cost- - if not toll recycling.
Issues post consumer recycling
Sorting required?
Washing or Dry-washing required?
Economically feasible? ND

10. Film recycling: A wide range from commodity to specialty
Recycling of plastic films
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Film recycling: A wide range from commodity to specialty
single layer unprinted
multilayer materials
machine direction or bi-axially oriented film
material partially or heavily printed- influence on re-use
metallised
humidity from outside storage or hygroscopic humidity
solid contamination could be a demanding job for melt filtration
ultra fine filtration ND

11. Film recycling: A wide range from commodity to specialty
Recycling of plastic films
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Film recycling: A wide range from commodity to specialty
LLDPE, LDPE, HDPE
OPP, BOPP, PP
BOPA
BOPET
PLA and other bioplastics
and others
Pick the right recycling equipment depending on the requirements
recoSTAR basic or recoSTAR universal ND

12. machinery and equipment
Recycling of plastic films
machinery and equipment ND

13. recoSTAR basic and recoSTAR universal- process flow
Recycling of plastic films
recoSTAR basic and recoSTAR universal- process flow
extrusion and pelletising of plastic films
difference is pre-treatment section only ND

14. recoSTAR basic recoSTAR universal
Recycling of plastic films
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recoSTAR basic recoSTAR universal
agglomerator/extruder combination
precutting may be required depending on input material
higher moisture possible
inline application, high automation poss.
single shaft cutter/extruder combination
no precutting required
cold cutting & feeding
high automation ND

15. recoSTAR universal- working principle
Recycling of plastic films
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recoSTAR universal- working principle
Single shaft cutter connected parallel to single screw extruder
Material gets cut in single shaft cutter and cold fed with speed controlled dosing screw into extruder
Exact dosing of material and control of output possible thanks to three drive design ND

16. recoSTAR universal- feeding options
Recycling of plastic films
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recoSTAR universal- feeding options
Material is fed without precutting into recycling line.
Feeding per conveyor belt and/or nip roll feeder and/or edge trim cyclone possible. ND

17. recoSTAR universal- single shaft cutter
Recycling of plastic films
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recoSTAR universal- single shaft cutter
Single shaft cutter runs slowly and is water cooled or oil heated. Single shaft cutter will automatically reverse and cut loose.
“Cold” cutting
Round hopper bottom & pusher avoids bridging
Bearings fixed outside of cutting chamber, central greasing system.
High storage capacity reducing operator interference
Knives turn able increasing life-time
Exact cutting geometry/high output/low energy ND

18. recoSTAR basic- working principle
Recycling of plastic films
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recoSTAR basic- working principle
material gets cut, dried and thermally compacted in the agglomerator drum
pre-heating of material by friction
temperature raised to just under melting point
rotating disc ( rpm), stainless steel with knives
continuously feeding of compacted material into extruder by centrifugal force
rate of material feeding is controlled automatically by load of agglomerator motor. ND

19. recoSTAR basic- feeding options
Recycling of plastic films
Page 19
recoSTAR basic- feeding options
Precutting may be required depending on material to be processed.
Feeding per conveyor belt and/or nip roll feeder and/or edge trim cyclone possible. ND

20. Extruder Single screw extruder with air cooling.
Recycling of plastic films
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Extruder
Single screw extruder with air cooling.
24 L/D w/o degassing, 40 L/D w/ degassing.
Smooth metering zone.
Vacuum degassing reduces moisture, ink, spin finish
Non-sensitive water ring vacuum pump (option rotary vane high vacuum pump)
Impurities are captured in oil condenser for proper disposal.
Closed circuit with heat exchanger in stainless steel.
Heavily printed film up to 100% and/or multi color: - 2 degassing extensions to a total 56 L/D - adding of CaCO3 powder to avoid ink build up ND

21. Continuous melt filter without and with backflushing
Recycling of plastic films
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Continuous melt filter without and with backflushing
Double piston filter Double piston backflushing filter
Automatic filter, no production stop for screen changing process
Backflushing filter extends service life of screens
Design: Straight melt flow, no dead spots, big open screen surface, deaeration valve ND

22. Continuous melt filter with Power backflushing
Recycling of plastic films
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Continuous melt filter with Power backflushing
for processing of material with higher degree of contamination
for processing of material with expected contamination peaks
power backflush pressure provided by external hydraulic cylinder  i.e. filter will be flushed with high pressure
pressure constant, back flush separated
piston cleanable on complete surface
main advantage: low melt loss during filtration, less filter discs required ND

23. Recycling of plastic films
Water Ring Pelletizer
PE, PS, PP with MFI ≤ 80, PA 6 and others spherical/lenticular granules, low investment, easy to handle, low operating costs
Knife head supported in die head ensuring parallelism
Magnetic clutch for knife head drive
Easy and quick knife change, no adjustment required
Coarse grain separation ND

24. Recycling of plastic films
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Water Ring Pelletizer
Variety of dies (number / diameter of holes) and knife heads (number of knives) available for different material
Cooling-hose flexible set-up for adjusted cooling time
Centrifuge for excellent drying (< 0.1 %) ND

25. Recycling of plastic films
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Strand Pelletizer
PET, PA, PP with MFI >80 < 0,3% crystallinity for PET and others.
cylindrical pellets
+ low investment
+ flexible application
+ low operating costs
limited in throughput due to the handling
operator always needed
no automatic operation ND

26. Automatic Strand Pelletizer
Recycling of plastic films
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Automatic Strand Pelletizer
all thermoplasts
cylindrical pellets
+ automatic operation
+ flexible application
+ broken strands are automatically re-inserted
+ for high througput
- investment ND

27. Under Water Pelletizer
Recycling of plastic films
Under Water Pelletizer
PE, PP max. MFI 200, PET iV > 0.6, PA and others
PET iV < 0.6 with melt pump
spherical granules
+ low space demand
+ inline crystallistion for PET
+ for high throughputs
+ savings on energy consumption
+ easy handling
- investment
- maintenance ND

28. Under Water Pelletizer with inline crystallisation
Recycling of plastic films
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Under Water Pelletizer with inline crystallisation
for PET: ~15% crystallinity,
+ additional savings on energy consumption. ND

29. Available machine capacities
Recycling of plastic films
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Available machine capacities
Extruder Ø
Output (w/o venting)
Output (with venting) 65
150 – 230 kg/h
kg/h 85
280 – 400 kg/h
230 – 350 kg/h
105
400 – 600 kg/h
350 – 500 kg/h
125
650 – 850 kg/h
550 – 800 kg/h
165
kg/h
kg/h ND

30. Technical Center in Weissenbach near Vienna
Recycling of plastic films
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Technical Center in Weissenbach near Vienna
The full Starlinger recoSTAR product range installed
Laboratory for MFR, IV, color, moisture, impurity and other tests
Trials for clients
R&D internally
basic/universal: Verkürzte Version
Vorstellung direct
Auflassen der 45 compact und Erklärung, dass dies kein Markt für uns ist
recoSTAR universal 165
Unterschiede zum Mitbewerb
Q&A ND

31. Thank you for your participation
Recycling of plastic films
Thank you for your participation ND