The complex process of recycling high-strength PP nonwovens for civil engineering requires innovative technology. The shredder-extruder combination from PURE LOOP produces such high-quality recycled pellets that manufacturers can now increase the recyclate content in their products.
PURE LOOP
From the left: Günther Sebera (Head of Purchasing, TenCate Geosynthetics Austria), Gundolf Sabathiel (Plant Manager Linz, TenCate Geosynthetics), Patrick Wiesinger (Project Manager, PURE LOOP) and Jürgen Gruber (Marketing Director Europe/Middle-East/Africa, TenCate Geosynthetics)
Up to 10 per cent rPP in nonwoven production for construction industry applications (e.g. geosynthetics for barriers, screens and road construction) has been made possible by the high-quality pellets produced by PURE LOOP machinery. This type of PP nonwoven can be recycled using PURE LOOP ISEC evo technology.
As a case in point, UK-based PURE LOOP customer TenCate Geosynthetics, part of the Canadian company Solmax, specialises in the development and production of geotextiles for modern civil engineering applications.
The edge trimmings and production rejects generated during manufacturing used to be recycled at TenCate’s facility in Linz, Austria, but not fed back into the company's own production process.
Jürgen Gruber, European Head of Marketing at TenCate, said: "It wasn't an issue at the time because the recyclate was sold. But in the meantime, it has become clear that reselling our valuable production waste is not an ideal solution, especially in view of the rising raw material prices. That is why we investigated the market to see which recycling technology would make it possible to produce recylate that meets our production quality."
Patrick Wiesinger, Project Manager at PURE LOOP, added: "The PP nonwoven is highly tear-resistant, which means it’s a very challenging recycling process. Our ISEC evo machine conserves the quality of the production waste really well during recycling, so we were able to achieve the specified increase in quality for the recyclates."
Wide range of material shapes
Listed by PURE LOOP as another advantage is the wide range of shapes in which the production scrap can be delivered for processing, as Wiesinger concluded: "At TenCate, one of the ways production scrap is delivered is on huge rolls. I'm talking about a width of up to five metres. Our ifeed technology with double feed ram system and singleshaft shredder offers the ideal conditions for direct processing of these large rolls – and without the need for prior preparation of the input material by employees before the material is fed into the recycling process."
The PURE LOOP technology has enabled TenCate to return the high-quality recyclates directly to production. An ability that “makes sense” in terms of cost effectiveness and the circular economy, according to Gruber.
Furthermore, production waste from a sister site in France is being repelletised for production, while waste from a subsidiary in the Netherlands is being processed at the PURE LOOP plant in Linz for test purposes.
TenCate produces numerous special plastics in addition to the PP nonwoven. If it can achieve the same high quality of recycled pellet, the company will look to utilise the PURE LOOP technology for other materials as well.