Technological watch

Coperion has developed a closed-loop approach solution in which up to 100 percent of multi-layer film production waste can be re-processed and fed back into the production process in a closed-loop. For a concrete project Coperion will deliver a recycling system, including bulk material handling, high-accuracy feeding from Coperion K-Tron, and the heart of the system, a ZSK Mc18 twin screw extruder.
Closed Loop Using the Most Advanced Technologies
Multi-layer film waste resulting during the production process is shredded as a first step before it is fed into the ZSK extruder via pneumatic conveying and highly accurate feeding from Coperion K-Tron. There, the material is homogenized and devolatilized with very high intensity in the co-rotating ZSK Mc18 twin screw extruder. Within the extruder, dispersion and devolatilization performance are crucial to end product quality — with gentle product handling and very good mixing behavior even at very high throughput rates, thus achieving consistently high product quality.
No Quality Loss
Following homogenization in the ZSK extruder, in the closed-loop concept, the recycled material is added back into the multi-layer film production process; with no quality loss and the proportion of added recyclate is very high. Multi-layer film manufacturing thus takes place sustainably, highly efficiently, and resource-friendly with the aid of advanced technologies.
Peter von Hoffmann, General Manager of Business Unit Engineering Plastics & Special Applications at Coperion, is convinced “sustainability is becoming more and more important, and the topic of the circular economy is moving further into the foreground for companies – and that is much more so for multi-layer film producers. We’re proud that, with our years of process know-how and our visionary technological solutions, we can contribute to a promising, forward-looking and sustainable closed-loop approach.”