Extrusion International 5-2025-USA

81 Extrusion International 5/2025 ice hockey) made of special PVC are used in the pressing process. The pucks are then shaped into thin records us- ing pressure and heat. After a short cooling period, they are placed in fully automated paper sleeves for protec- tion. The nal step is packaging in the respective covers and sleeves. The record is ready to be sold and played. During each pressing process, an approx. 20 mm wide protrusion of PVC material - i.e. the remainder of the puck - is created on the outside due to the process. This is sheared off, giving the record its nal circular shape. Next to each of the almost 40 pressing machines is a compact C-series granulator fromWanner inWertheim, Germany. The production waste is automatically discharged from the pressing machine and transported into the granula- tor's hopper. Within seconds, the offcuts are shredded into akes approx. 4 mm in size and fed to the extruder via a mixing chute. This results in no waste, as the edge trimmings are processed directly inline. Occasionally, pucks or individual records do not meet Record Industry's quality requirements. As the pucks are too massive and the records too large for the small granulators, they have to be processed separately. Re- cord Industry therefore set up an additional recycling line in the building next to the pressing machines. A WEIMA WLK 4 single-shaft shredder was put into op- eration there at the end of 2024 for shredding predomi- nantly mixed PVC residues. Material can be loaded man- ually or by forklift from big bags via a conveyor belt. The WEIMA shredder pre-shreds the PVC to approx. 25 mm akes before it is re-shredded to approx. 4 mm granu - late via a further conveyor belt with metal detector in a Wanner granulator of the Dynamic series. To improve the processability of the material, the resulting recyclate is fed through a dedusting system to remove the ne dust from the ground material. The end product is high-quality PVC akes that can be reused in the record pressing production process. The colorful mixture of akes creates an individual marbled coloration during pressing. Record Industry is proud to now have a 100% recycled product in its range thanks to these colorful records. The result of the collaboration with the shredding specialists fromWEIMA andWanner is correspondingly positive: "The pressing of our records is virtually waste-free thanks to the smooth cooperation with the technicians from WEIMA and Wanner. We make maximum use of our material resources and can supply our artists with a truly sustainable product. This is in keeping with the spirit of the times and is also economically attractive for us." – Dennis Borst, Technical Manager at Record Industry. WEIMA Maschinenbau GmbH www.weima.com WEIMA WLK 4 plastic shredder In the middle of the recycling process: A Wanner granulator