KLK OLEO offers bio-based ingredients that are used in plastic products to impart wide-ranging benefits, from process optimisation to improved part performance.

KLK OLEO Corporate Office 

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Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Thermoplastische Elastomere

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Thermoplaste

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Biokunststoffe

Standardkunststoffe

Technische Kunststoffe

Additive Fertigung

Warmformen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Warmformen / Thermoformen

Blasformen

Pressen und Warmformmaschinen

Kunststoffverarbeitungsmaschinen

Kunststoff-Recycling

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Extrudieren (KU)

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Compoundieren

LyondellBasell has obtained the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus certification for certain grades of polyethylene and polypropylene produced at four of its U.S. manufacturing sites.

Pictured is LyondellBasell’s Channelview Complex. The company has obtained the ISCC Plus certification for certain grades of polyethylene and polypropylene produced at four of its U.S. manufacturing sites

Polyethylen

Polypropylen

Kreislaufwirtschaft

LyondellBasell Gains ISCC Plus Certification

The state of Upper Austria has recognised Engel Austria´s commitment to building up a circular economy for plastics with the Upper Austrian Environmental Award 2021.

State Councillor Stefan Kaineder (left) congratulating Engel‘s Vice President Marketing Ute Panzer and Günther Klammer, Vice President Recycling at Engel, on winning the State Environmental Award

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Engel´s Skinmelt Technologie Awarded

As part of a new effort to advance the use of recycled ocean plastic, Sabic and Microsoft have collaborated to create Microsoft’s first consumer electronic product – The Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse – with an exterior shell containing 20% recycled ocean plastic.

Computer Mouse Made Partly out of Ocean Plastic

Over past months, many in-house workflows and development processes have slowed down and also changed. Nevertheless, time has not stood still, also not in injection molding technology. The debate and development have been shaped by two themes: digitalization and the circular economy. Below are some examples of developments and projects that underpin this trend.

Two displays are seamlessly integrated into the continuously 3D-formed instrument panel

Innovative Injection Molding in Times of Pandemic

Schaumspritzgießen

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Steuern, Regeln

Software

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

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

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Spritzgieß-Sonderverfahren

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Spritzgießsimulation

Simulation

Schnecken und Plastifiziersysteme

Spritzgießmaschinen

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Machine Learning / Künstliche Intelligenz für die spanende Fertigung

Industrie 4.0 für die spanende Fertigung

Lasermarkieren

Oberflächentechnik

Laserbearbeitungen

Inline- / Online-Messsysteme

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

There Is More beyond the Horizon

Both the quantity of recycled plastics waste and of processed recyclates is continually increasing. However, there are still difficulties with the quality of the recycled plastics, which are impeding replacement of virgin material. In recent years, machinery manufacturers and plastics producers have introduced various further developments that improve the properties of recyclates as well as eliminate unpleasant odors and contaminants.

Plastics recycling is a laborious process. For the recycled material to have the necessary quality, it must first be sorted into the different plastics

Overcoming Difficulties in Plastics Recycling

Streifinger, Florian

Recycling

Extruder

Extrusionsanlagen

Trockner

Waschen und Entfetten

Trockner, Granulat-

Sortierer

Additive

Inspektion, Analyse und Sortierung von Rohmaterial

QualitÃ¤tssicherung

QualitÃ¤tssicherung Kunststoff

The Long Road to a Circular Economy

With the Sortex A GlowVision sorting solution, Switzerland-based Bühler AG introduces a 4-in-1’ optical sorting solution that can be used for simultaneous color, polymer, foreign material and loose-label sorting.

Sortex A Glow Vision is used for optical sorting

16:9

Sorting Solution for Bottle-to-Bottle and Food Applications

Materialhandling

4-in-1 Sorter for PET Recyclers

Dow, HP, Reifenhäuser, Cadel Deinking and Karlville present a feasibility study for recycling digitally printed polyethylene barrier packaging into new high-quality PE bags.

Key industry players combine forces to recycle PE-based barrier pouch into new high-quality PE pouch suitable for repeat recycling

Technik Trend

kunststoffe-international.com

Important Step towards Pouch-to-Pouch Recycling

Chemical Recycling Europe has appointed John Sewell as its new Secretary General. He will take on the position with immediate effect.

New Secretary General

Neste and Ravago aim to establish a joint venture to build an industrial facility for chemical recycling in North Sea Port in Vlissingen, the Netherlands.

Aerial view of the designated location in North Sea Port in Vlissingen, Netherlands

Neste and Ravago Plan Cooperation

Starlinger & Co GmbH received two Letters of No Objection (LNO) issued by the US Food and Drug Administration FDA regarding its newly developed machine concept for processing post-consumer HDPE scrap. The LNOs apply to the HDPE bottle-to-bottle and cap-to-cap recycling processes.

rHDPE pellets produced from milk bottles and canisters

Aufbereitungsmaschinen

Starlinger Recycling Process Approved by FDA

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) published a report that analyzes scientific data on the environmental impacts of plastics and finds plastics to be more sustainable than alternative materials when life cycle assessments are taken into consideration.

Plastics Have Smaller Environmental Impact than Alternatives

At the Plastics Recycling Show Europe in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the winners of the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe 2021 were announced.

Winners of the Plastics Recycling Awards Europe 2021

Interview with Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of Plastics and Rubber Machinery within the VDMA, and Ingemar Bühler, Chief Executive Officer of PlasticsEurope Deutschland.

 Digitalization makes the value chain more transparent, processes can be controlled more easily

“Digitalization Will Make Products Transparent”

RadiciGroup and DKB introduce the first “circular” ski suit made of yarn obtained from recycled materials and designed with end-of-life recyclability in mind.

The ski suit developed by Radici and DKB is made of recycled and recyclable polyamide

Polyamide

Sustainability on the Slope

New Compound Materials for Durable Technical Applications

In the research project “UPcyclePET”, and together with Easicomp GmbH, Fraunhofer LBF developed a new material that had to prove its qualities in practical tests.

In the research project “UPcyclePET”, and together with Easicomp GmbH, Fraunhofer LBF developed a new material that had to prove its qualities in practical tests. The resulting technical component was able to demonstrate the mechanical advantages of long glass fibers, combined with the benefits of PET such as low swellability and high dimensional stability.

Plastic scrap and its improper handling result in global environmental problems. Particularly problematic hereby are packaging plastics that must be disposed of or find their way into the environment after a relatively short life cycle. One solution for this is to convert short-lived plastic scrap into high-grade materials that find new use in durable technical applications.

In the UPcyclePET research project, and together with Easicomp GmbH – experts for long glass fibers thermoplastics – Fraunhofer LBF developed a novel and low-cost material based on used beverage bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Potential applications for the new material are found in lightweight automotive components such as engine supports or cross members.

Sustainable Materials from  Used Beverage Bottles

The main feature of this approach is that PET flakes from used beverage bottles (called rPET in the following) are processed directly in a highly integrated manufacturing process that involves compounding and pultrusion. Hereby, the mechanical benefits of the particularly long glass fibers are combined with the advantageous properties of PET, such as low swellability and high dimensional stability.

By means of tailored plastic additivation, together with an optimized process design for compounding and pultrusion, the properties of the melt and compound were adapted according to the requirements of the target applications. Hereby, the main focus was on the mechanical properties. For the long glass fiber-reinforced PET made of bottle flakes, the aim of the project partners was to obtain similar mechanical properties as exhibited by short glass fiber-reinforced plastics based on virgin material, e. g. those of polyesters or polyamides (PA-SGF, PET-SGF). On the contrary to clearly defined virgin materials, recyclates place special requirements – in terms of quality – on processing and the formulation to be developed. Numerous properties of PET – e. g. moisture sensitivity, degradation behavior during processing or slow crystallization – represent special challenges for material development and process design. In addition, the specific requirements of the pultrusion process and the glass fiber compound (e. g. regarding viscosity limits and wettability of the glass filaments) must be taken into account. This interaction, plus targeted optimization, requires deep understanding and experience of formulation and process design for the composite materials. Therefore, selected formulations with different methods were investigated systematically in the UPcyclePET project. As an example, this procedure will be described on the basis of two formulations with a 50 % content of long glass fibers (rPET-LGF50) in terms of the fiber/matrix adhesion. The behavior of these compounds were compared by scanning electron microscopy after a cold fracture (Fig. 1). By means of a coupling agent and a modified processing, it was possible to reduce the fiber pull-out; the latter is typically observed when poor interactions between fiber and polymer matrix exist. Reduction of fiber pull-out improves the mechanical properties of the composite considerably.

Furthermore, the analysis of crystallization behavior and morphology, provided a comprehensive understanding of the structure/property relationships for the upcycling of such recyclates. Subsequently, the final recipe of the new long glass fiber-reinforced rPET (called UPcyclePET in the following) was compiled. It has a 25  % glass fiber content and is named as rPET-LGF25 in the following.

CO2 Footprint of rPET and PA66

Figure 2 shows the stress-strain properties (dry as molded) of rPET-LGF25 based on PET recyclate as compared to that of PA66-SGF made of virgin material. The material properties of PA66-SGF25 and rPET-LGF25 exhibit a comparable tensile modulus, but differ slightly in tensile strength and elongation at break. Regarding CO2 footprint, the new material rPET-LGF25 based on recyclate has a decisive advantage over PA66-SGF25 based on virgin material polyamides. An indicative life cycle assessment, conducted by the project partner Öko-Institut, on material production revealed that the material UPcyclePET has a CO2 footprint of 5.1 kg CO2 equivalents/kg, whilst the material based on PA66-SGF25 has about twice as high with 11.0 kg CO2 equivalents/kg.

Based on the newly developed formulation, a component was selected which is currently being produced with short glass fiber-reinforced polyamide, and used in automotive construction. In order to evaluate the limit case (long versus short glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastics, produced in the existing mold which is designed and optimized for short glass fiber-reinforced polyamide 66), a relatively small component was chosen intentionally.

The PA66 component has a size of about 57 mm x 48 mm x 23 mm (length x width x height, see Figure 3) and consists of PA66-SGF25. The component was produced by K. S. Kunststoff-Innovation GmbH, who is a specialist for high-quality technical injection molded parts.

It was shown that injection molding of long glass fiber-reinforced rPET-LGF25 (length of LGF granulates: 11 mm) was possible with the same mold, normally used for processing the short glass fiber-reinforced PA66-SGF25, just by varying the injection molding parameters. As expected, the filling process was sub-optimal due to the longer glass fibers compared to the much shorter glass fibers of PA66-SGF25. As a result the component homogeneity and thus the quality of the component were affected.  This indicates clearly through the typical sink mark near the sprue (Fig. 4). The reason for this is that due to its long fibers, rPET-LGF25 melt cannot flow unhindered through the narrow channels in the mold within the needed short time. The result is “freezing” in the sprue region. Accordingly, the dwell pressure cannot be maintained, which leads to the sink marks. Identification of suitable components (e. g. larger, less complex components) plus optimization of fiber and granulate length of rPET-LGF25 represent the next qualification steps for the new material.

By comparison, the component made of PET-LGF25 exhibited far less shrinkage and higher dimensional accuracy than that of PA66-SGF25. A non-contact photo-optical measurement of the PET-LGF25 component showed that local shrinkage was far less than that of PA66-SGF25 component (Fig. 5). This is due to the inherent properties of PET.

In summary, the project UPcyclePET supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) successfully developed a new long glass fiber-reinforced material based on a secondary PET. It exhibits mechanical properties that are comparable to those of virgin plastics reinforced with short glass fibers (PET SGF and PA66-SGF). The material rPET-LGF25 exhibits a significantly lower CO2 footprint as compared to PA66-SGF25.

Moreover, the BMBF UPcyclePET project also showed that it is possible to use rPET-LGF25 to produce a small component with complex geometry (previously made of PA66-SGF25) in the same mold as the established product.

The demonstrator component of rPET-LGF25 features low shrinkage and particularly high dimensional accuracy.

Within the scope of the subsequent project UPcyclePETPlus, material flows other than used PET bottle flakes will be investigated. Also larger demonstrator components will be aimed for, which can be produced in molds with wider channels and sprues.

Fraunhofer-Institut für Betriebsfestigkeit und Systemzuverlässigkeit LBF Bereich Kunststoffe

https://www.lbf.fraunhofer.de

Easicomp GmbH  

https://www.easicomp.de

Ausgabenartikel

Upcycling of used PET beverage bottles into long fiber-reinforced thermoplastics

Fig. 1. Comparative REM images after cold fractures in correlation to achieved mechanical characteristics of different rPET-LGF50. These rPET-LGF50 differ in composition and processing and are compared with PET-SGF45 

Fig. 2. Mechanical characteristics of rPET-LGF25 compared with those of PA66-SGF25 

Fig. 3. The selected component made of rPET-LGF25 is a technical part in a window roller blind system that places high demands on geometrical accuracy and mechanical properties

Fig. 4. Challenges: the left photo shows an encircled sink mark, whilst the long fibers at the sprue end are visible in the photo at right

Fig. 5. Non-contact photo-optical measurement of components. At left, the original component made of PA66 – at right, the demonstration component made of UPcyclePET

Name - Fraunhofer

Dr. Frank Schönberger is department head of Polymer Synthesis in the plastics division of Fraunhofer LBF in Darmstadt, Germany; <a href="mailto:frank.schoenberger@lbf.fraunhofer.de">frank.schoenberger@lbf.fraunhofer.de</a>

Shilpa Khare is head of the Technical Center in the plastics division of Fraunhofer LBF in Darmstadt; <a href="mailto:shilpa.khare@lbf.fraunhofer.de">shilpa.khare@lbf.fraunhofer.de</a>

Dr. Tapio Harmia is CEO of Easicomp GmbH; <a href="mailto:tapio.harmia@easicomp.de">tapio.harmia@easicomp.de</a>

Under the grant number 033RK052, this project was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the scope of its “KMU-innovativ” program.