Post-consumer recycled plastic is an invaluable resource to produce eco-friendly high-quality affordable plastic.
(This post is available in italian language – Questo articolo è disponibile in italiano)
Today, extrusion process aimed at the production of plastic materials is increasingly focussing on using and recycling post-consumer plastic as raw material. Plastic producers are more and more oriented to reduce plastic scrap and waste – in turn, recovery and reuse of plastic scrap and waste result in avoidance of damage to the environment and minimization of adverse impact on climate.
What is post-consumer waste?
Once a plastic material or finished product is at its end of life, it ends up in the waste stream, becoming post-consumer plastic eligible for recycling. Post-consumer plastic waste differs from pre-consumer – or post-industrial – waste, which is production waste coming from industrial sites, i.e. before being used by consumers.
It is worth highlighting that pre-consumer plastic waste is produced in large quantities in a relatively small number of places, i.e. industrial plants: as a matter of fact, almost all industrial processes generate plastic waste. On the contrary, post-consumer waste is usually available in small quantities but in countless places, i.e. in our houses and in waste collection facilities.
Accordingly, post-consumer waste is available in higher volumes, and its collection and sorting are more complex if compared to plastic pre-consumer waste. Nevertheless, it is important to handle post-consumer waste to prevent tonnes of plastic from polluting the environment.
Above all, it is worth considering that post-consumer waste can turn into a new essential resource for players from the recycled plastic extrusion sector.
Post-consumer plastic – from waste to wealth
For recycled plastic producers, post-consumer plastic turns from waste to wealth when used as raw material. In plastic production processes, recycling post-consumer waste can be extremely cost effective because it is readily available and affordable.
Nevertheless, traditional extrusion systems require post-consumer plastic waste to undergo specific and additional treatments (washing, sorting, etc.) before being used, especially whenever high-quality finished products are manufactured. In order to overcome this shortcoming, screen changers intended for plastic extrusion have been enhanced and equipped with powerful cutting-edge filtering solutions.
Screen changers to process post-consumer plastic
To equip a post-consumer plastic extrusion system with high-level filtration automatic and continuous screenchangers is a solution to solve several issues.
Contaminated materials used as raw materials to produce high-quality plastic must be adequately filtered. The higher the contamination, the more advanced the screen changer needed – screen changer must offer higher filtering capacity and enhanced automation.
Automatic and continuous screen changers to filter any kind of post-consumer plastic
To equip an extrusion system with a high-level filtration automatic and continuous screenchanger is essential for post-consumer plastic recycling; high-level filtration automatic and continuous screenchangers can filter any impurities from post-consumer recycled plastic with no need for any special preventive treatments.
Cofit top-notch screen changers offer unrivalled plastic filtering capacity and segregate almost all impurities from material during extrusion cycle – in other words, no machine downtimes or production line slowdowns.
Regardless the process polymer and its contamination level, Cofit screen changers allow the use of post-consumer recycled plastic as raw material. Cofit screen changers allow top-notch post-consumer plastic filtering.
In particular, Cofit Gorillabelt T delivers 50-micron filtering capacity (270 mesh). Besides, Gorillabelt T has been designed to filter a wide range of plastic materials, e.g. PET, HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PP, ABS, PS, PE, PC, nylon 6 and 6.6, PMMA, PA, and others.
An ethical and sustainable choice in any sector
Thanks to the high volumes of available recycled plastic, the demand for advanced post-consumer plastic recycling systems is increasingly higher. The introduction of post-consumer recycled plastic extrusion systems is increasing in any industrial sector.
Systems are required to filter highly contaminated plastic materials as well as to manufacture increasingly clean end products. Today, Cofit is manufacturing screen changers intended for plastic extrusion systems for agriculture, automotive, construction, packaging, food, textile, and medical sectors, just to mention a few.
To make pre- and post-consumer plastic recycling easier and more profitable is a key factor at Cofit: not just business viability but business ethics and eco-sustainability.
Find out more about Cofit screen changers on our website, contact us for any additional information, and join us on LinkedIn.
