Applications

In Germany, private households generate around 5.2 million tons of plastic waste annually. The majority of this waste ends up in yellow bags and bins for kerbside collection designated for recycling. This waste includes mixed materials such as soft and hard plastics, plastic packaging and foils, but also aluminium and other materials. Materials may still be co-mingled in the bales in which pre-sorted plastic waste is delivered to the disposal companies for recycling. Although the respective composition of the input material is extremely varied, the plastics recycler must succeed in producing an output material from it that meets the precise specifications of his customers. To ensure this, the machines have to be stopped frequently to load them with the knives and sieves designed to process the particular input material. However servicing the machines is time-consuming.

There are four problems that waste management companies often face when recycling plastic waste:

1. Plastic waste is damp. Because the bottles and containers usually contain residual liquids contaminating the plastics. These include substances such as WC cleaners which react chemically with other liquids. The acids and vapours which form in the process cause the machine parts to rust.

2. Machines in the plastics sector reverse more frequently. This means that the knives operate in one direction for a few minutes and then in the opposite direction for a few minutes. As a result of the frequent change of direction, the fixing screws of the knife holders wear down more quickly. This makes it more difficult to loosen the knives.

3. The input material is varied. This requires the use of different machine knives and screens, which are matched to the respective input material. An example: Slicing stretch films with unsuitable knives results in larger parts of the film being torn off but not cut. The result is an output of lower quality. This is because the larger parts turn out to be a problem for the downstream processing of the plastic granulate.

4. Incorrect feeding of pre-sorted plastic bales into the plastic mill by the machine operator will cause problems. Especially if the bales have not yet been freed from the wires that hold them together.

CUTMETALL offers its customers effective solutions for each of the problems described.

1. Rusty machine parts
To remedy this situation, CUTMETALL has developed repair kits. These are sheets of metal that can be welded in without having to take apart a large part of the machine.

2. Reversing machines
For these machines CUTMETALL designed knife holders in which the screws are better protected. .

3. Versatile input
CUTMETALL plus Carbide Germany GmbH has developed special solutions for plastics recycling: Industrial knives with one-piece or multi-piece brazed carbide cutting edges, designed for shredding particularly abrasive materials.

The base material of these extremely wear-resistant carbide knives is a specially tempered tool steel.
The inlays are hard brazed.
This keeps the basic structure flexible, while the blade body is resistant to heavy loads.
In addition, CUTMETALL plus processes the machine knives using the diamond grinding method.
This surface treatment enables a high cutting durability even under intensive use.

Equipped with highly wear-resistant rotor and stator knives (cutting crowns, block, granulating and flat knives) as well as particularly wear-resistant screens, the machines deliver a homogeneous cut over a long period of time.
At the same time, the reduced number of required knife changes minimises the downtime of the machines. This results in higher production utilisation, increased output quality and constant bulk densities.

But the machines themselves also benefit from CUTMETALL products:

Their use reduces machine vibrations, lowers the noise level, reduces energy consumption, decreases temperature development, reduces dust exposure and extends maintenance intervals.

4. Problems with plastic bales
CUTMETALL does not only offer products. If problems occur at the customer's premises, for example when processing plastic bales, specialists from the company analyse the work processes on site and then provide the customer with targeted advice.

But CUTMETALL's range of services does not end there.
If a customer has recurring problems with a machine type, specialists develop solutions either independently or together with the customer to eliminate the problem and optimise the work process.

In doing so, the company responds specifically to customer wishes and designs individual configurations to meet the special requirements of the waste disposal company.
For example, CUTMETALL has created knives with a modified geometry for machines in plastics recycling.
The tips have been turned out deeper, which enables a more aggressive feeding behaviour.v Due to this geometry the shredders run more freely and better.
They also do not clog so quickly.

Last but not least, those responsible at CUTMETALL know that many plastics recyclers use several machines from different manufacturers. For this reason, the company has an extensive product portfolio available for them. At CUTMETALL, customers can obtain all necessary spare and wear parts from one source. In various degrees of hardness, sizes and geometries.