Birmingham-based company Recycled Polymers has bought the first FIMIC automatic screen changer to be installed in the UK for use in compounding recycled polypropylene compound.
The FIMIC equipment is manufactured in Italy and involved an investment cost of over £100,000 and is designed to replace the traditional hydraulic screen changer.
The key features of this add-on are continuous running of the extruder without reductions in flow, and an ability to handle up to five times more contamination without production loss.
It works on a sweep arm, which automatically rotates when a pre-set back pressure is reached and sweeps the contamination off the screen and voids it to the floor.
Recycled Polymers managing director Grant Gerry said: “I have been looking at this system for some time and have read of the success that companies in the USA have experienced.
“Recycled plastic feedstock for compounding is increasingly difficult to source without a lot of contamination. Our job is to add value in producing as pure a pellet as possible for our various customer specifications and I am confident that this investment will enable us to more than adequately meet this challenge.”
Launched in October 2011, Recycled Polymers now has two compounding lines running and a 550 tonnes a month capacity.
Executive chairman Andrew Selby added: “We have taken an option on two more of these screen changers and we are adding a third compounding line and a granulating and washing plant by the year end and are expanding our Birmingham plant into a 30,000 sq ft unit with 12,000 tonnes annual capacity.
“Building a business in these difficult times is a challenge, but investing in leading-edge enhancements such as the FIMIC auto screen changer, will give us a competitive edge and add to our ISO 9001 certification of quality production.”
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