CPRJ Direct: Circular economy on the top of agenda

Circular economy is a global topic and on the top of the agenda of the plastics industry now. As mechanical engineering is an important part of the circular economy within the industry, VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association organized a press tour at Fakuma 2018, in which plastics machinery manufacturers shed lights on how they can contribute.

Kühmann Thorsten, Managing Director of VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association, told CPRJ that one of the key messages that VDMA promotes for circular economy is “collaboration”. “The plastics industry needs to respond to the criticisms made from the public, and machinery manufacturers are part of the circle,” he said.

“The plastics industry has to take a global approach. The issue cannot be solved by only German industry players,” continued Kühmann Thorsten. “Therefore, we will also promote the importance of circular economy in important industry trade shows like CHINAPLAS and K show in next year.”

Industry 4.0 as a further enabler

One of the key challenges for the plastics industry is to add value to recycling materials which can then be used in larger scale. The problem now is that recycling materials are difficult to handle and the quality varies. Therefore, quality standards are needed to secure increasing acceptance and usage of recycling materials for processers, brands and end customers.

In this case, Kühmann Thorsten believes that Industry 4.0 will be a further enabler. With digitalization and connectivity, a better control of the recycling and production process can be achieved and issues can be addressed directly. Quality is thus kept to standard.

Paolo Glerean from Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) also emphasized the importance of collaboration. According to him, recyclers need the technical support and innovations from technology providers for adjustments on production lines.

Perspectives of machinery manufacturers For Gred Liebig, CEO of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH, circular economy brings significant changes to the development of injection molding machines, especially in the packaging sector.

The changes are shown in three directions. Firstly, processers use more new materials and they expect technological advancements from the machine manufacturers. Secondly, processers ask for more concept of recycling. Thirdly, energy efficiency becomes crucial.

Machine manufacturers can definitely make their contribution, according to Dr. Christoph Steger, CSO of ENGEL Holding. “The machines have to be capable of handling recycling materials which have many variations,” he explained.

“Everyone needs to do but not to wait,” emphasized Dr. Christoph Steger.

Austrian plastics industry working on closing the loop Meanwhile, Austrian plastics industry is focusing on closing the recycling loop. In an interview with CPRJ at the fairgrounds, Ing. Wolfgang Bohmayr, Cluster Manager of Business Upper Manager, mentioned that the Austrian plastics industry has started a big project of better converting and recycling since a few years ago.

“In order to keep the materials in the loop, post-consumer recycling is very important,” said Wolfgang Bohmayr. “Therefore, the whole supply chain should participate, including waste collectors, machinery manufacturers and processers.”

“The project also involves the participation of universities and designers. As product development plays a key role in the usage of recycling materials, a library was also established for designers to understand the properties of different recycling materials,” added Harald Bleier, Cluster Manager for Plastics of ecoplus, the Business Agency of Lower Austria.

Smart recycling technology increases quality and green benefit At Fakuma 2018 in Friedrichshafen, environmental services provider Interseroh and technology manufacturer EREMA jointly presented the COREMA cascade extrusions system.

This system allows for the manufacturing of customized recycling compounds for exceptionally high-quality applications in just one processing step for the first time.

Interseroh is using the new technology in the scope of its many-time award-winning Recycled-Resource process. Along comparable lines to the compounding of new products, additives, modifying agents and inorganic fillers can be ad-mixed in shares of 0.25-40%. In this respect, the quality control of the material rheology and color stability takes place on a digital basis and in real time.