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CEMAC and REMONDIS turn waste plastics into pellets
First published Waste Management Review // 18 November 2024
In this article, Waste Management Review reports on REMONDIS’ installation of a cutting-edge EREMA pelletising plant in WA, to convert soft plastics into recycled pellets
The plant addresses plastic export bans by processing soft plastics into reusable pellets for local remanufacturing
With a capacity to process 4,500 tonnes of plastic annually, this initiative strengthens local recycling efforts and reduces environmental impact
ARTICLE
In this article reprinted from Waste Management Review, REMONDIS has partnered with CEMAC technologies to close the gap for soft plastics in Western Australia.
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CEMAC technologies has partnered with recycling and water management provider REMONDIS Australia to install an EREMA soft plastics pelletising plant that converts plastic waste into recycled pellets.
As part of REMONDIS’s commitment to increase plastics recycling in Western Australia, the EREMA INTAREMA TVEplus 1310 RegrindPro is based at its specialised facility in Jandakot.
The INTAREMA was imported by CEMAC technologies from its long-standing Austrian partner, EREMA – a technology leader making plastics recycling efficient, profitable and able to compete with virgin material.
Chris Gusenzow, REMONDIS General Manager for Western Australia, says the pelletising plant will be used to recycle disposable plastics from supermarkets and other large retailers.
“We take post-consumer film such as pallet wraps and shrink wraps (not soft plastic wrappers or packaging formerly collected by REDcycle) from shopping centres, major supermarket chains and the likes for recycling,” he says. “The machine effectively processes, cleans and filters plastics and turns it into a pellet that can be used in remanufacturing.”
Since beginning operations in June, the plant has been processing material to test and refine the process for the material type and customer applications. When fully operational, it is expected to process up to 4500 tonnes of plastics per annum. The recycled pellets can be on sold for use in low density polyethylene applications.
“Currently the pellets are being sold overseas, but we are trying to come up with a local solution in Australia and Perth specifically,” he says.
Chris says REMONDIS installed the machine in response to plastic export bans imposed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).
“Previously, we processed the film in a simple format. It was being baled into a big block and sent overseas,” he says.
“To meet the requirements of the new export bans, plastics are required to be processed further, which is why we chose the INTAREMA. It’s a high-end machine, and that ensures that the quality of the pellets will be better. This is a way for us to safeguard what we’re trying to do as a business and make sure that we can sell the material at the end of the process.”
Eric Paulsen, Managing Director, CEMAC technologies, says the INTAREMA is among the most advanced recycling technologies available for difficult to recycle materials.
“It has proven itself in many applications overseas and locally in plastics recycling,” he says.
“The INTAREMA enables effective and triple de-gassing for diverse applications such as film, sheet, and nonwovens. In the middle of the extrusion line the EREMA Laserfilter removes the bulk of the contamination continuously, allowing processing of materials otherwise not suitable for extrusion.”
Eric adds that the plant is further equipped with a second melt filtration step using the EREMA automatic backflush filter.
“This enables capturing of gels and other residual impurities after the maximum melt pressure and temperatures occur in the continuous Laserfilter. Using the INTAREMA RegrindPro with the second melt filtration step enables highest possible recycled pellet content in downstream applications,” he says.
“It handles a wide range of recycling material types seamlessly without screw changes, while maintaining consistently high throughput. It can process materials with bulk densities from 30 to 800 grams per litre.”
Chris says processing the pellets to a further refined state means there is more chance to remanufacture the pellets locally.
“Processing the post-consumer films into pellets provides an opportunity which wasn’t there beforehand. If we weren’t doing that, the films would have to go overseas to be recycled,” he says. “Without this solution, I think there would be a gap in Western Australia. It was important that someone did something, and REMONDIS has stepped up to offer a solution.”
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