Cologne, April 4, 2024 – Live on stage: At the ARBURG Technology Days in Loßburg (Baden-Württemberg), a high-performance injection moulding machine from the renowned manufacturer produced high-quality plant pots from OSKO. With this live action, ARBURG demonstrated how modern recyclate can be processed into high-quality products with 100 percent recyclate content without any problems in terms of quality and process. GreenDot provided Systalen® brand post-consumer recyclate (PCR) for this purpose. The ARBURG Technology Days showcase the latest injection molding technologies to a global customer base. To mark the 25th anniversary of the Technology Days, over 5,100 guests from 41 countries saw more than 40 different applications.
“We produced four plant pots each from the PCR material Systalen® on our electric Allrounder 720 A in a cycle time of just 4.8 seconds with consistently high injection molding quality,” says Reiner Schmid, expert for the packaging sector at Arburg. “Digital pilot functions in the Gestica control system, such as our new ‘aXw Control RecyclatePilot’, ensure consistent mold filling. This means that the PCR can be processed practically as easily and reliably as virgin material.”
“We have been processing recycled plastic from the dual system, or better known as the ‘yellow bag’, for ten years. We also use colors and additives that make the pot recyclable again. In this way, we return the pot to the dual system. The cycle begins again. The recyclate from the Systalen® brand GreenDot is easy to process and the quality is comparable to that of virgin material,” explains Ralf Ostkotte, Managing Director of OSKO GmbH, Ochtrup.
“Our Systalen® post-consumer recyclates are an important contribution to closing the loop,” emphasizes Jörg Deppmeyer, Managing Director of Der Grüne Punkt. “I am very grateful to ARBURG for this live demonstration, because it shows how easily our Systalen® can be processed and what possibilities it offers.”
The background:
The high-performance electric Allrounder 720 A “Ultimate” machine with a clamping force of 2,900 kN, a size 1300 injection unit and in the “Ultimate” performance variant achieves very high injection volume flows and injection speeds of up to 400 millimeters per second thanks to high-precision servomotors from sister company AMKmotion. The “Ultimate” performance variant is designed for high-speed and demanding processes. The directly driven machine is characterized by a particularly high power density. For homogeneous material preparation and consistently high product quality, the exhibit is equipped with Arburg's recyclate package, which includes hardware and software elements. The adaptive process control with the help of the “aXw control RecyclatePilot” feature results in a stable shot weight in addition to the recyclate package.
The starting material for the Systalen® post-consumer recyclate is plastic waste from household collections in Germany (Yellow Bag & Yellow Bin). These are first sorted by type of plastic in sorting plants and then delivered to the Systec Plastics GmbH recycling plant in Hörstel as unmixed bales of recyclable polypropylene (PP). After successful quality testing and several shredding, separation and washing stages, the shredded and washed plastic flakes are melted, degassed, micro-filtered and finally pelletized into high-quality Systalen®. The post-consumer granulate can be used to produce new packaging or products, such as flower and plant pots from OSKO.
Caption: Systalen® was used at the ARBURG Technology Days (Images: ARBURG).
