Erema debuts polyolefin recycling system

Austria-based Erema GmbH says its newly designed Intarema 2325 T-VEplus RegrindPro is the largest system ever built to recycle polyolefin (PO) regrind and can handle a wide variety of infeed materials.

“As the demand for recycled plastics increases, so does the need for larger recycling machines,” says the company, which offers several machines and systems for the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling sector, some of which uses its Vacurema technology.

Now, it is following up on its PET recycling success with a new and larger system designed for PO recycling.

“New legislation and the voluntary commitment of major product brands mean that in the future our customers will need to process an increasing volume of plastic [scrap] to make high-quality recycled pellets without any compromises,” says Markus Huber-Lindinger, managing director of Erema.

The European company calls the Intarema generation of machines a flexible series designed to handle a wide variety of feed materials. PO plastics come in many forms and are used in numerous applications, including wraps, packaging, toy production, automotive components and panels and pipes used in manufactured goods.

Erema's Intarema product is available in 13 sizes for film and nine sizes for regrind applications. The 2325 model has a throughput of over 4,000 kilograms (8,818 pounds) per hour for PO regrind and a compact footprint considering its throughput capacity.

Technology deployed by Erema in its new product line includes its TVEplus Counter Current system, which features melt filtration upstream of extruder degassing.

“This makes it possible to produce recycled pellets of impressively high quality, meaning that the proportion of recycled plastics used in the final product can be significantly higher than with lower-quality recycled pellets,” the company says.

“Our extensive trials with around 500 metric tons of material have shown that the Intarema 2325 impresses with high-quality recycled pellets at high throughput rates, all within a very stable process," adds Sophie Pachner, R&D manager at Erema.

“We are convinced that the Intarema 2325 is capable of achieving very high throughputs even with challenging process parameters,” Huber-Lindinger says. “This machine is further proof of our company’s outstanding engineering capabilities and our willingness and expertise to solve major challenges in plastics recycling.”

Erema's Intarema 2325 model is available immediately and currently can be purchased through its Fast Track scheme, which offers select machines with what it calls particularly short delivery times.