Paint bucket or A-pillar finisher? In our thoughts and attribution of value, packaging items and high-tech components often represent opposites. Yet the two can complement one another – when you look at used packaging as a valuable raw material. At the fair, KraussMaffei will be showing the concept for a closed material cycle and is making plastics processing sustainable through this.

First a bucket or another plastic product, then raw material for further processing: the shredded post-industrial material

At the K, KraussMaffei Will Be Showing the Cycle from Product to Upcycling  to a New Product

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

kunststoffe-international.com

Smart Factory

Energieeffizienz

Steuern, Regeln

Software

Folientechnik (IMD, IML, FIM, u.a.)

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Laserbeschriftung

Oberflächentechnik

Laserbearbeitungen

Rückverfolgbarkeit, Traceability

Qualitätsmanagement

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Automatisierungstechnik

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Zerkleinerungsmaschinen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Greifer für die Kunststofftechnik

Spritzgießmaschinen

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Compoundieren

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Today Packaging,  Tomorrow Raw Material

In an online survey, representatives of the plastics industry formulated their expectations toward the Plastics Innovation Center 4.0 (PIC 4.0).

Wordcloud generated from the answers to the open question concerning the most important use cases for PIC 4.0

Part 5 of the Series: Practical Demonstrators for the Plastics Innovation Center 4.0

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0

Messdatenerfassung und -verarbeitung

Prozessoptimierung

Prozessmanagement

Machine Learning

Datenanalyse

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Focus on the User Benefit

Time to take stock: in what condition and with what agenda is the industry presenting itself after two-and-a-half years of a difficult climate? We have conducted a survey: insights into the dominant themes of the age.

Preview of K 2022: Kunststoffe Questionnaire on the Situation in Injection Molding Machine Construction

Steuerungen (Hardware und Software)

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

Mess-, Steuer- und Regelgeräte

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kreislaufwirtschaft

Harsh Realities

ABS is a material for esthetically and mechanically demanding applications in the automotive industry, electronic housings, household appliances, and medical technology.

ABS is particularly in demand for electrical and household appliances.

16:9

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene: Recycling Successes and Challenges

ABS / ASA-Kunststoffe

Thermoplaste

Right Combination of Mechanical  and Esthetic Properties

After the focus was on individual manufacturing and model-supported process set-up in recent years, the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University is linking the two aspects of digitalization and circular economy at K 2022.

The QR code on the PCR component provides project information and process data.

Werkzeuginnendrucksensoren

Messtechnik

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

kunststoffe.de

Precise Process Control with Injectix

The increasing demand for recyclates and the shortage of food-grade PET flakes pose challenges for batch quality and color consistency.

Repi offers various additives for recycling PET, which can be used, for example, to prevent the material from darkening.

Recycling

Polyethylenterephthalat

Additive

Compensating for Darkening in Recycled PET

Plastic recycling: Kreyenborg uses infrared technology for the reduction of unpleasant odors in plastics.

Everything fresh: the two-stage IR-Fresh process removes unpleasant odors from recyclates.

Infrarotstrahler

Materialhandling

IR-Fresh Minimizes Odors in PCR Granulates

The use of TPE materials with recycled content increases the sustainability of vehicles. They are also used more and more in the interior.

The selection of high-quality recyclate enables their use in demanding automotive applications.  

Recyclate Reduce the CO2 Footprint in Seals and Interior Applications

Thermoplastische Elastomere

Soft, Elastic and Recycled

Automakers have formulated ambitious plans for their vehicles. We discussed this topic with Frank Schumann from Trinseo.

Batterien

Energiespeicherung

Elektromobilität

Mobilität

Lichttechnik

“Nothing Speaks against the Use of Recyclates for Demanding Components”

The quality of recyclates can be improved very well by means of suitable additives. An overview of the variety of products and their suppliers.

Overview: Additives for Plastic Recyclates

Stabilisatoren

Vitamins for the Circular Economy

The quality of recyclates is seen as too low. Improvements are possible by using additives, as was shown by the exchanges during the Forum Plastic Recyclates.

Quite clearly, the central theme of this year’s conference  was additives for recycling materials.

Streifinger, Florian

Additives Are Decisive

To close the recycling loop for end-f-life tires, Pyrum will in future produce pyrolysis oil from discarded tires using its own pyrolysis process. BASF will then feed this into its Verbund at the start of production.

End-of-life tires are tires that are no longer suitable or approved for their intended use.

Vom Altreifen zum Türgriff: Pyrum, BASF und Mercedes-Benz schließen Wertstoffkreislauf.

Technik Trend

New Life for Old Tires

In November 2021, four members of the Feddersen Group announced certification with ISCC Plus. With K.D. Feddersen Holding, now further companies of the group followed.

Further Companies of the Feddersen Group Certified

As of August 16, 2022, Guenther Klammer is responsible for the research and technical developments of Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH as the new technical manager (CTO).

Guenther Klammer, new CTO at Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH.

Guenther Klamm New CTO of NGR

The two companies want to contribute their respective know-how to the value chain in order to return plastic waste that is not recycled mechanically.

Left: Christoph Gahn, Vice President Chemical Recycling Business & Technologies BASF; right: Marco Tomasi Morgano, CTO Arcus

Chemie

Naturwissenschaften

Unternehmen

BASF and Arcus Sign Agreement

The IKV is researching digital solutions for better description and classification of recyclates. The aim is to increase the actual recyclate use rates. Results will be presented at the IKV colloquium in September.

The Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University is researching digital solutions for better description and classification of recyclates. The aim is to increase the actual recyclate use rates. Results will be presented at the IKV colloquium in September.

As part of the European Green Deal, an international shift to a circular economy is being promoted at EU level. This involves, among other things, setting the course to reduce environmental damage caused by emissions, making sustainable use of finite resources, and enabling the recycling and reuse of as many materials as possible. The recycling-friendly optimization of products and processes – also in plastics processing – is essential for achieving these European targets. The complex and varying composition of recyclate material, in combination with the lack of evaluation standards, is creating obstacles against its industrial use. In addition, regulatory restrictions can frequently not be fulfilled. Finally, there is a lack of information along the process chain of plastics products that is needed to guarantee ecological and sustainable optimization.

The level of contamination and, in this connection, also the product design has a key influence on the recyclate properties. Packaging often consists of several components, for example from different plastics as well as additives, printing inks or adhesives. Apart from that, recyclate material has experienced various types of stress during its utilization and processing. This leads to different levels and types of damage to the material, and affects the properties of the products in later use. The uncertainty about the origin and composition of the recycled plastic material also makes it difficult to define its characteristics and to determine the data that are important for meeting the regulatory requirements and for its processing. IKV has, since the 1980s, been working on solutions to numerous questions in this area of research.

Digital Approaches Promote Closed Loop Recycling

Especially in combination with digital innovations, such research results have the potential to solve these challenges, and are regarded as a driving force when it comes to raising recycling quotas and promoting the circular economy in the field of plastics. In this connection, data platforms are of elementary importance for increasing the general exchange of information, for tracking material flows and for documenting sustainability data on raw materials and products. By exchanging the collected sustainability data, it is possible to document the effects exerted by the design and the process, to draw up transparent and accurate life cycle assessments, and to align the recycling of plastic waste. The development and implementation of such approaches – aimed at increasing the real recyclate application quotas – requires the involvement of all players in the plastics industry.

IKV is pursuing a holistic approach to identify digital solutions for the improved use of recyclate. In the PlasticBOND research project, together with a broadly based industry consortium, prototype concepts are being developed that consider the product and process properties at every stage of the life cycle, and make the information available as a set of data in line with the material passport introduced by the Industry 4.0 platform. Applications in which the digital passport can provide a benefit are, in addition to more efficient processing, also the holistic optimization of the ecological sustainability (e.g. the CO2 footprint of packaging) or the compliance with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Here, IKV makes use in particular of the experience acquired in the R-Cycle project with traceable plastic products.

Alongside this, a study is also being carried out of the effects on processing of using varying recyclate qualities and varying recyclate contents, as well as their influence on the respective process control. The focus of the project is less on raising the individual recyclate quality or optimizing the actual processing, but more on improving the standards for recyclate. This should then make it possible, taking into account the complexity of the reprocessing, to make specific use of recyclate according to the classification, and thus turn the „circular economy“ from a political goal to a practicable, everyday technology.

Circular Economy at the 31st International Colloquium Plastics Technology

Circular economy will be the topic of Session 2: Recyclable barrier systems for sustainable products and Session 5: Control of material flows in packaging recycling, each with a keynote speech from industry and two scientific presentations by IKV.

During IKV 360° Research Live, the scientific staff will demonstrate the potential circular economy at various stations:

<ul><li>Packaging recycling</li><li>Recycling of FRP molding compounds</li><li>Characterisation of recyclates</li><li>PE quantification in recyclates</li><li>Migration barrier for recyclates</li></ul>

PlasticBOND: Schematic illustration of the platform design to be developed.

The R-Cycle initiative aims to increase the proportion of plastic packaging that is recycled. Renowned companies in the plastics industry are behind the initiative.

2022-07-13 IKV-Kolloquium Kreislaufwirtschaft

International Colloquium Plastics Technology

Professional exchange, new impulses and inspiring encounters – this is what the <a href="https://www.ikv-aachen.de/en/events/colloquium/" target="_blank">International Colloquium Plastics Technology</a> has stood for since 1950. From 7 – 8 September 2022, IKV invites to Aachen for the 31st time.

<a href="https://en.kunststoffe.de/a/news/assistance-systems-facilitate-process-co-2756776" target="_blank">Read here what you can expect in Aachen this fall.</a>