EREMA opens center for recycling

Plastics recycling, the circular economy and successful examples of closed plastics cycles are the focus of attention at EREMA's Circonomic Centre, which opened on October 16 in outdoor area FG 09.1 at the K2019 exhibtion area. In cooperation with customers and partner companies from all areas of the value chain, EREMA will be presenting over 30 lighthouse projects and demonstrating live recycling using 14 different materials to demonstrate how plastics cycles can be successfully closed.

 

"Created from the words circular and economy, the term Circonomic expresses what we want to achieve together with our customers and partners. It's about integrating recycling know-how into the plastics value chain so that our industry, as well as the environment and our society, can benefit from it ecologically and economically," says Manfred Hackl, CEO EREMA Group, describing the objective of the demonstations at the Circonomic Centre. Also present at the opening was Ton Emans, President Plastics Recyclers Europe. Mr. Emans praised the Austrian plastics recycling machine manufacturer's commitment to improving networking and intensifying cooperation within the industry: "EREMA has succeeded in bringing together many players in this chain and together with them has made the Circonomic Centre an attraction for everybody who is interested in plastics recycling"

 

 

Lighthouse projects as impetus for circular economy  

In the course of the fair, EREMA will recycle 14 different plastic waste materials into high-quality recycled pellets, some of which will be processed directly at the fair into new end products. These demonstrations, like the lighthouse projects on display, are based on more than 30 cooperation projects with customers and partners representing the entire value chain. A wide range of high-quality products containing up to 100 percent recycled materials will also be on display. "We need a change towards a more circular economy. This is exactly what we are working towards with our customers and partners. Visitors to the Circonomic Centre are given an idea of how real circular economy projects have been successfully put on the road thanks to the will to cooperate and the use of state-of-the-art technologies in the areas of sorting, washing, recycling and processing. They can also see what kinds of plastic waste are processed for this purpose," explains Marketing Manager Gerold Breuer. The spectrum of these "products made of recyclate" presented in a separate exhibition ranges from shower gel bottles made of 100 percent PCR-HDPE sourced from the yellow sack, through shrink and stretch films containing up to 30 percent recycled pellets to technical injection-moulded products and lifestyle goods.

 

The expectations within the industry in terms of presenting solutions to close the loop in plastics have risen rapidly over the past two years. "36 years ago, when plastics recycling was not yet an issue, the founders of EREMA had the foresight to put their faith in it. The same foresight is also in demand when it comes to making recycling a fixed link in the plastics value chain. Europe can become a pioneer and a role model for other regions", says Manfred Hackl. 

 

Experience the circular economy live

Some of the material flows that EREMA recycles at the Circonomic Centre during K 2019 are already being used to manufacture consumer products on the market. Feasibility studies prove that the other material flows presented live here, have the same potential thanks to innovative recycling technologies. This was shown clearly right after the opening of the Circonomic Centre in a cooperation project between EREMA, LINDNER, ENGEL and HAIDLMAIR. Recycling and further processing of fishing nets was demonstrated. The nets – which are shredded and washed by Lindner - were then processed live into recycled pellets. These were then used during the fair to make practical and durable storage boxes using an ENGEL injection moulding machine fitted with HAIDLMAIR tools and a special FDU injection moulding nozzle from HAIDLMAIR FDU Hotrunner. The used fishing nets come from Chile, where they are collected as part of an initiative by the sports and leisure goods manufacturer bureo. A selection of products manufactured by bureo is also on display at the Circonomic Centre. 

 

The machinery used for all the recycling demonstrations at the trade fair is an INTAREMA® TVEplus® equipped with a QualityOn package for continuous measurement of colour, MVR and polymer composition and integration into the re360 Manufacturing Execution System.