Extrusion International USA 2-2020

58 Extrusion International 2/2020 RECYCLING The reason for this sudden rise in demands can be ex- plained by the simultaneous action of regional driving forces and long-term technological trends. Among these driving forces are EU programs and sub- sidies, the decision of different countries to make up for their obvious deficits in recycling plastics, above all France and Germany. Among the regional driving forces are also countries that all too much relied on the export of their waste to China. Among them are not only Ire- land and Germany but also Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Among the regional driving forces is also China where they started to build a modern waste industry. Similar, but much smaller in Russia. Another point is that a self-sustaining recycling industry has risen in the US, in Canada and Mexico that, graded according to the degree of difficulty, treats all kinds of waste according to the recycling knowledge developed in Europe. In this area considerable quantities are avail- able, above all film waste looking for a different use than landfill and incineration. Two technological trends have emerged: 1) Chemical recycling: different market participants are working on solutions and a lot of larger plants are be- ing built in North America and Europe. In this field, the procedures supplied by Herbold are in demand in order to treat the flow of waste in a cost-saving, high-perfor- mance way and a constant high-level quality. 2) Equal to virgin recycled plastic: For the production of high-quality recycled material, Herbold has developed optimized washing procedures that allow to use a high percentage of recycled plastic material for new prod- ucts. The main criteria compared with procedures of the past are a considerable odour reduction and hardly any visual errors caused by foreign colours or residual con- tamination. These solutions are rendered possible by the clever con- ception and combination of the following process steps: size reduction, washing, separation and drying as well as compacting of fines, films and fibres. As far as film recycling is concerned, Herbold is one of the most suc- cessful plant manufacturers. For the recycling of PET and polyolefin bottles Herbold succeeded in developing en- ergy-efficient size reduction and (hot) washing systems characterized by not only a high quality but also by low operating costs. Herbold Meckesheim GmbH Industriestr. 33, 74909 Meckesheim, Germany www.herbold.com Contrary to the equipment suppliers for the automotive segment, the suppliers of waste disposal and recycling technology see a real boom in incoming orders. HerboldMeckesheim has full order books for 2020 and even further projects for 2021are already being finalized. That is unusual for amarket that used to have delivery times of less than 6months Circular Economy – A Contributing Factor to Success Technology for Circular Economy