Shredder Boosts Production Efficiency of Recycled Materials

Belgian plastics recycler Tivaco is converting clean post-industrial scrap into high-grade pellets for demanding applications. On its latest, fully automated line, the company uses Austrian/German technology to provide high-quality recyclates at throughputs of up to 3800 lb/hr.

Cornerstones of this line are a Micromat Plus 2000 shredder from Lindner reSource and a downstream Intarema 1714 TVEplus recycling/extrusion line from EREMA. The shredder, which is precisely tailored to the capacity of this extruder, shreds filaments, tapes (raffia), big bags, or nonwoven fabrics made of polyolefins (PE, PP) to the ideal size for processing in the extruder. Using this pre-shredding process means that Tivaco has been able to increase the throughput capacity of the Intarema system by up to 15% in comparison with direct processing of the unprocessed material.

Thanks to its spacious hopper, the shredder can be charged with batches of up to two tons of material by forklift truck/tipper and acts as the stockpile for the extruder. A precision controller and numerous programs for a wide variety of different materials mean that the shredder can be set so that it always supplies the extruder with exactly the quantity of shredded material which -- depending on the nature of the material -- the extruder can handle. Any metals exposed by the shredding process can be detected and separated by means of a metal detector and magnet. The Micromat Plus ensures that the feed material is also ideal in terms of purity and dimensions for the downstream extrusion process. Moreover, there is no longer any need for laborious and costly manual charging of the recycling line.

The Micromat series of shredders has a wide variety of drive systems, rotors, and blades that can be freely combined with one another. This means that the shredder can be adapted to a particularly wide range of materials, so increasing productivity. The configuration devised for Tivaco is optimized for problematic materials such as big bags, filaments, or stretch films. The shredder is equipped with a 220-HP motor that is designed for high throughput and small grain sizes using a clean starting material. Further components include special screens and a point blade rotor with a length of 78 in. and a diameter of 22 in., which is fitted with 1.69 × 1.69 blades, four sides of which can be used, to ensure precise cutting and a high throughput.

"Since price pressures are severe, even high-grade recycled products can only be produced economically viably by keeping consumption of resources low and ensuring a high level of automation and extended periods of uninterrupted production,” said Thibaut Debode, Tivaco's chief executive, purchasing & sales. “The Micromat Plus 2000 from Lindner reSource has helped us to achieve these goals. The drive for this shredder is particularly economical in energy terms, while the high quality of all the components ensures a long service life. If, despite being highly wear-resistant, the blades have to be rotated or replaced, these tasks can be carried out quickly thanks to the easy access provided by the large hydraulic maintenance hatch. Other factors which led us to decide on this system were the well-tried collaboration between Lindner and EREMA and Lindner's across-the-board support from the design stage, during optimization of the machine to our requirements and then during ongoing production. The line has operated without a hitch since it was commissioned in mid-2015."

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