Starlinger: Plastic Recycling Industry Ready for Odour Reduction Technology : Starlinger: Plastic Recycling Industry Ready for Odour Reduction Technology
Austrian recycling equipment manufacturer, Starlinger recycling technology is seeing growing demand for odour reduction technology for plastic recycling.
The company explained that post-consumer plastic scrap often contains migrated substances from food, cosmetics or cleaners, which cause an unpleasant smell during the recycling process.
However, residues of monomers, oxidation or hydrolysis, as well as decomposition products (VOCs – volatile organic compounds) can also be the reason for unwanted smells in recycled granulate.
According to Starlinger, depending on the polymer type, source or type of the odour, its intensity, and the specifications of the produced regranulate, the technology it launched last year individually adapts the recycling and odour reduction process according to the needs of the recycler.
It basically consists of the stages material preparation, degassing, and post-treatment.
• Material preparation: the SMART feeder heats and homogenises the input material until the ideal operating point is reached. Highly volatile odours are already extracted during this process.
• Degassing: the C-VAC degassing module after the extruder increases the melt surface by 300 %, thus achieving an extremely high degassing efficiency. This results in permanently removing also deeply embedded odours.
• Post-treatment: The odour extraction unit at the end of the process gives the regranulate the finishing touches. Here, the most persistent odours are reliably extracted and removed permanently.
With its odour reduction technology Starlinger said that recyclers of post-consumer plastic scrap have the opportunity to turn their input material into a high-grade secondary resource.
A homogenous regranulate quality and permanent odour reduction were said to ensure the reuse of the regranulate to up to 100% also in demanding applications.
“Potential customers are convinced by the very successful trials with their input materials in our Technical Center,“ commented Paul Niedl, commercial head of Starlinger recycling technology.
The company said that one customer has already ordered its second recycling system equipped with it.
“Our three-step procedure eliminates even deeply embedded odours. This gives our customers completely new application opportunities for their regranulate. The last months also showed that the market is clearly in need for a solution in this area,” concluded Niedl.
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