DUSSELDORF, GERMANY - Resin Management Corp. of Tampa, Fla., has invested more than $750,000 to expand its ability to recycle a variety of engineering thermoplastics. The firm purchased a plastic scrap densifier at the K'95 trade show in Dusseldorf that it claims is twice the size of any other densifier in North America.
Resin Management purchased an SV700 densifier from MWK Recycling und Maschinenhandels GmbH of Wachtersbach, Germany.
The machine can process 1,600 pounds of material an hour.
Peter Blyth, president of Resin Management, said the machine will help his company move into the recycling of high-melting-point engineering thermoplastics that are difficult to recycle, such as polyesters and acetals.
Resin Management intends to install the machine in a leased, 20,000-square-foot building in Tampa by the end of this year.
Then, Resin Management will pursue industrial scrap from such customers as fiber, film and textile manufacturers.
``We will be able to handle fines, baled or rolled scrap, ends of bobbins or loose materials with this densifier,'' said Ben Benvenuti, sales manager for the company.
Both Blyth and Benvenuti were interviewed during the K'95 trade show, held Oct. 5-12.
Blyth said he defines his company as a materials-handling company that adds value to resin scrap.
He said the company already recycles large amounts of nylon and PET, and claims his company is the largest recycler of acrylic in North America.
The SV700 densifier uses friction heat to densify resin fibers, fines and other scrap. The machine does not have an integral heating element, Blyth said.
He claimed the machine produces a recycled chip that has minimal degradation from the recycling process.
``If you put natural resins in, you get natural resins out. No yellowing, no degradation,'' Benvenuti said.
Blyth said he hopes his company will be able to use the machine to expand its range of customers and the range of materials it recycles.
