TotalEnergies Premium Wood Pellets Packaging Now Made of 50% Recycled Polymers from the RE:Clic Range
The TotalEnergies Premium Wood Pellets are now packed in high-performance polyethylene bags incorporating 50% post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials.
The new innovative packaging is composed of a core layer of rPE2206, a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) grade made of 100% PCR content and part of the RE:clic circular polymer range, and high-performance Lumicene and Supertough metallocene virgin resins. It exhibits identical properties and thickness as fossil-based alternatives with a significantly reduced environmental footprint. Moreover, the printed area of the packaging has been reduced by 60% to improve recyclability and limit ink usage.
This development is the result of an internal effort within TotalEnergies to implement the circular economy in our own use of plastics.
“This project is a great illustration of our commitment to promote sustainability as a Company, by implementing our own innovative developments in our businesses. It contributes to addressing the challenge of end-of-life plastics and marks yet a new milestone in our ambition of producing 30% circular polymers by 2030,” said Olivier Greiner, Vice President, Polymers Europe & Orient at TotalEnergies.
“Our customers choose TotalEnergies Pellets Premium as heating energy because it is both a cost-effective and sustainable solution. The new packaging co-developed with the Polymers Division facilitates recycling and helps reduce the carbon footprint of our activity,” said François Boussagol, General Sales Manager, Marketing & Services France at TotalEnergies.
Clariant Oil Services Launches PHASETREAT WET, Introducing a More Sustainable Demulsification Process for Oil and Gas Industry
PHASETREAT WET employs nanoemulsion technology to help customers reduce carbon emissions
The solution reduces demulsifier dosages by up to 75% compared to current solutions and optimizes customers’ onshore and offshore operations
PHASETREAT WET is part of Clariant Oil Services D3 PROGRAM, a sustainability initiative featuring an exceptional range of proven Clariant products
Clariant Oil Services, a leading provider of specialty chemical solutions, has launched PHASETREAT WET to offer more efficient and sustainable solutions for the oil and gas industry’s demulsification needs. Designed to overcome challenges inherent in traditional oil production processes – most notably, meeting stricter environmental requirements for oil and water separation – the novel solution will help operators reduce operational costs, simplify logistics, and mitigate safety risks.
For offshore operators, PHASETREAT WET reduces chemical volume by up to 75%, resulting in reduction in freight, inventory, and offshore movements. In onshore operations, the solution offers additional benefits, including decreased dosages for demulsifiers and deoilers, improved water treatment quality, more efficient oil treatment, and reduction of injection points.
“In an ever-changing world with increasing energy demands and a drive towards energy independence, the oil and gas sector plays a crucial role in supplying vital resources. More sustainable chemical solutions to support oil and gas production can help the overall production process become more sustainable and adhere to modern health, safety, and environmental regulations,” said George Nunes, Head of Clariant Oil Services.
“Stemming from our operations in Latin America, we are employing PHASETREAT WET globally to satisfy the customer need for more sustainable processes with a lower carbon footprint, ultimately allowing operators to provide critical natural resources with reduced Scope 3 emissions,” added Kevin Mutch, Head of Application Development, Clariant Oil Services.
Last year, Clariant Oil Services launched the D3 PROGRAM to introduce more sustainable solutions to the oil and gas industry with an emphasis on decarbonization, densification, and detoxification. The initiative leverages advances in the oilfield and helps operators reduce carbon emissions and enhance safe operations, while avoiding disruptions to ongoing operations.
PHASETREAT WET exemplifies densification by increasing the active level of the product from 40% to above 90%, which has a direct impact on carbon emissions related to material transport. By diluting the product on-site, the product is made even more efficient, leading to a total material saving of up to 75%.
Clariant’s New Amomax-Casale Ammonia Synthesis Catalyst: Excellent Results in First Three Commercial References
The new AmoMax-Casale catalyst has been successfully installed in three ammonia synthesis plants to date: Nutrien, Mosaic and Yara Sluiskil
All three sites confirm superior catalyst performance, reduced production costs and lower CO2 emissions
Jointly developed by Clariant and Casale, AmoMax-Casale offers up to 30% higher activity
Clariant’s efforts to foster the energy transition show next great results. The new AmoMax-Casale ammonia synthesis catalyst has proven itself in all of its first three industrial references. Jointly developed by Clariant and Casale, the catalyst features exceptional activity, stability, and energy efficiency. These benefits have been confirmed at the ammonia production facilities of Nutrien in Trinidad and Tobago, Mosaic in the USA, and YARA Sluiskil in the Netherlands. Based on plant data, all sites report superior catalyst performance with significant reductions in energy and production costs. At the same time, lower carbon dioxide emissions have greatly improved the sustainability of the plants. With ammonia considered to play an important role in a future hydrogen eco-system, a high-performing, energy-efficient ammonia synthesis catalyst, like AmoMax-Casale, is crucial for accelerating the transition toward net zero.
Georg Anfang, Vice President Syngas and Fuels at Clariant Catalysts, stated, “The implementation of AmoMax-Casale in several units with different designs and process requirements not only confirms the excellence of our innovative catalyst, but also its flexibility. Currently, more than 70% of ammonia produced is used by fertilizer manufacturers, but as ammonia becomes increasingly important as an energy carrier and fuel, AmoMax-Casale can also play a decisive role in facilitating the energy transition.”
Ermanno Filippi, CTO at Casale, added, “Our advanced ammonia converter has already demonstrated its strong impact on plant productivity, energy consumption and emissions. By combining it with our jointly developed innovative AmoMax-Casale catalyst, we are now able to help our customers achieve even greater plant performance.”
AmoMax-Casale is the customized evolution of Clariant’s industry-proven AmoMax 10 catalyst series with more than 120 references worldwide. The new catalyst has been specifically optimized for Casale ammonia converters resulting in an up to 30% enhanced efficiency index.
The first industrial application of AmoMax-Casale was in 2021 at Nutrien’s ammonia production plant in Trinidad and Tobago. The facility now realizes energy savings of approximately US$ 500,000 per year, as well as an annual reduction in CO2 emissions of 4,700 MT. The second AmoMax-Casale customer was Mosaic in Louisiana. After the revamp, the plant is benefitting from a significantly lower operating pressure (12% lower), and a higher ammonia concentration at the outlet (9% higher), demonstrating the excellent performances of the catalyst and the new ammonia converter. The latest application of the catalyst was at Yara Sluiskil in their 1200 MTPD ammonia plant in the Netherlands. The catalyst was activated within just 2.5 days and is performing well.
The advantages of the AmoMax-Casale catalyst were also recognized by two awards: The Swiss Chemical Society’s Sandmeyer Award 2021 and the prestigious ICIS Innovation Award 2020 for “Best Sustainable Process”. Furthermore, Casale’s ammonia technology and the AmoMax-Casale catalyst have been selected for multiple green ammonia projects, underlining both companies strive to accelerate the energy transition.
Pioneering With Servo Systems for Global Injection Molding Tool Construction
Erbacher Servomold GmbH & Co. KG is celebrating 25 successful years as a specialist in the automation of injection molding tools. The roots of the company go back to May 1998, when Bianca and Thomas Meister founded Exacon Verwaltungs GmbH in their house in Hiltersklingen in the Odenwald and offered services related to the design and development of injection molding tools. Still under her management today, her company, with 28 employees, is one of the world’s most innovative and efficient developers, manufacturers and suppliers of servo systems for injection molding tool construction. Despite an eventful history, Servomold has remained true to the Odenwald location.
Change points the way to today’s success
The series of changes of location and name over the past quarter century is a reflection of the constant and consistent development from the spartanly equipped, but with a lot of know-how “cellar child” of the first days to today’s status. This was followed in 1999 by the development and patenting of the tunnel sprue inserts, the founding of Exaflow GmbH & Co. KG and the move to larger premises in Groß-Umstadt. With the change of name to i-mold GmbH & Co. KG and the next move to Brensbach, again due to the lack of space, the sale of hot runner systems also started in 2004. Five years later we continued to Michelstadt. There Thomas Meister founded Servomold GmbH & Co. KG in 2011, whose products were distributed by i-mold.
2016 was finally the starting point for the construction of today’s modern and spacious company building on the outskirts of Erbach. 620 m² of office space, including seven CAD workstations, and 300 m² of hall space today offer a friendly and light-flooded working environment for the employees in development, quality assurance, sales and administration. There is also production with our own machine tools to support external partners and to shorten delivery times.
In 2017, the two parts of the company merged into what was then i-mold GmbH & Co. Initially, Servomold was just the brand name of the product line. This changed fundamentally in 2022 after it became clear to Thomas Meister that the future lay and will continue to lie with servo automation. The consequence was the change of name to Servomold GmbH & Co. KG.
Modern and continuously growing
Today, Servomold is a medium-sized, continuously growing company and an internationally experienced partner to the plastics industry. The company name stands for a growing number of standardized and individual solutions for the servo-electric and therefore clean, space-saving implementation of rotary and linear movements. Applications range from single threads in engineering plastic parts to linear slide and core pull movements to multi-cavity cap tools. One of the consistently talented and excellently trained employees is Lucas Meister, project manager – and son of the entrepreneur couple who ensures continuity.
Borealis to Acquire Rialti S.P.A., A Leading European Producer of Recycled Polypropylene Compounds
Borealis announces the signing of an agreement to acquire Rialti, one of Europe’s leading producers of mechanically recycled polypropylene (PP) compounds for injection moulding and extrusion
The investment will strengthen Borealis’ circular portfolio, in adding 50,000 tonnes of recycled compounding capacity and meeting growing customer demand for sustainable solutions
In the spirit of Borealis’ EverMinds commitment to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, this expansion marks another critical step
Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals, fertilizers and the mechanical recycling of plastics, announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire Rialti S.p.A., an Italian polypropylene compounder and recycler. Closing of this transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.
Based in the area of Varese, Italy, Rialti is one of the European market leaders specialized in production of sustainable polypropylene (PP) compounds with a focus on mechanically recycled PP feedstock from post-industrial and post-consumer waste. With over thirty years of experience, Rialti utilizes its annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes to make injection moulding and extrusion PP compounds with applications in different industries, including automotive, appliances and construction.
“During the past decade we’ve made steady progress in our circularity journey. The addition of Rialti to our portfolio will expand our circular offering and strengthen our ability to serve our customers in meeting their sustainability ambitions. As such we continue reinventing essentials for sustainable living” says Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology and Circular Economy Solutions.
UFlex Limited and ExxonMobil Collaborate to Introduce Certified-Circular Packaging in The India Subcontinent
ExxonMobil has made its first commercial sale of certified-circular Exceed PE polymers in India to UFlex Limited, India’s largest multinational flexible packaging and solution company headquartered in Noida (National Capital Region), India with packaging film manufacturing plants in India, UAE, Mexico, Poland, Egypt, USA, Russia, Hungary, and Nigeria. The certified-circular Exceed polymers leverage ExxonMobil’s proprietary Exxtend technology for advanced recycling.
Product quality and performance of the certified-circular polymers are identical to virgin plastic.
Incorporating certified-circular resins into packaging solutions is one concrete way UFlex Limited helps to support a circular economy for plastics
This sale of certified-circular polymers in India is significant as it now allows the user to incorporate certified-circular content into food packaging. Mechanically recycled plastic materials have had limited use in food packaging applications. ExxonMobil’s Exxtend technology, on the other hand, helps widen the range of plastic materials that can be recycled, breaking down difficult-to-recycle plastic waste back into its original building blocks that can be attributed to new, certified-circular polymers. Product quality and performance of the certified-circular polymers are identical to virgin plastic, so customers can be confident when using them in existing applications, including contact-sensitive, food-grade packaging solutions.
UFlex Limited in collaboration with brand owners, will be among the first in India to use certified-circular performance PE polymers to produce films for high performance flexible packaging, including food-grade packaging applications.
Mr. Rahul Dubey, General Manager (R&D) UFlex Packaging Division, shed some light on the motivation behind their initiative: “We recognise the importance of supporting a circular economy for plastics and believe that it requires the collective effort of the value chain. We have engaged with our customers to help develop plastic packaging and helped them access certified-circular material. Incorporating certified-circular resins into our packaging solutions is one concrete way we can help support a circular economy for plastics and in turn, contribute to a better tomorrow. We are honoured and excited to be part of this incredible journey!”
“I’m extremely delighted and pleased to be part of certified-circular polymer development with our value chain partners,” said Nitin Thakur, Area Sales Manager, North and East India for ExxonMobil Polyethylene business. “This step can help society at-large to capture additional value for plastic waste across multiple applications.”
International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS is a widely recognized global certification system to certify products that can be traced back to the advanced recycling of plastic waste via mass balance attribution. ExxonMobil has obtained ISCC PLUS certification for several of its facilities and has ambitions to build capacity to process 500,000 metric tons of plastic waste by year-end 2026 across multiple sites around the world.
“Commercializing certified-circular polymers in our region is an essential enabler to help customers and brand owners realize their plastic circularity ambitions,” said Chan Kwee Lin, Asia Pacific Advanced Recycling and Sustainability General Manager for ExxonMobil. “By offering advanced recycling solutions, ExxonMobil is making it possible for a far broader range of plastic products to be recycled. This puts us one step closer to a world where society can better capture the full value of plastics.”
SPE Announces “Lifetime Achievement Award Winner” – Kevin N. Pageau Will Be Honored at SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala
Kevin N. Pageau, owner and president of International Marketing Alliance and a major contributor to the SPE Automotive Division Innovation Awards Program for many years, has been named the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). For over 40 years, Pageau has led key advancements in the automotive plastics industry including being an early pioneer in the application of CAE technologies – Pageau ran GE Plastics first 3D finite element moldflow analysis, and provided technical analysis of numerous leading edge applications at GE. He also developed one of the first warp analysis tools, where the melt flow angle for each element was calculated and used to predict fiber orientation in glass filled materials – leading to additional roles at GE as Project Engineer, Business Development Specialist and Business Development Manager; As Director of Engineering at Plastics Engineering & Technical Services (PETS) he developed proprietary methods, computer programs and algorithms to optimize the analysis of hot and cold runner systems for complex automotive molds, as well as implementing some of the first commercial “mold cooling” analysis projects.
Pageau has also led a team of tooling engineers, project engineers, and quality engineers in the development of decorative plastics molds and processes as Director of Advanced Engineering at Dott Industries. As a Manufacturer’s Representative at Mayne-McKenney, he built significant business for Principals in the areas of satellite radio antennas, engineered foam and injection molding.
Pageau joined International Marketing Alliance (IMA) in 2003 and helped build it into a leading sales and marketing firm for automotive components. IMA represents seven domestic and international companies, with product areas including injection molding, decorative plastics of all types, engineered foam, LED lighting systems, and advanced seat comfort systems, generating revenues of approximately $100 million dollars annually.
His involvement in SPE goes back to his GE Plastics days, where he was on the development team that won an SPE award for the Chrysler 1990 Eagle Premier Azdel bolster. He became active in the Automotive Division in 1992 as Newsletter Editor, where he upgraded the quality of the newsletter, and increased ad revenue to make the newsletter break even for the first time in years. He then held other positions in the Automotive Division leadership, including Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-Chair and Chairman. He was recognized as an Honored Service Member of SPE in 2004.
The SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition and Gala has grown over the years to become known as the “Academy Awards of the Automotive Industry” with Pageau’s leadership. In addition to being Awards Program Chair for a few years, he has managed and streamlined the nomination and judging process, worked with the team to upgrade the audio visual and other program features, and reduced the “run of show” time to two hours, while still recognizing all winners and finalists in a very professional event. He continues to manage the nomination and judging process, write the script for the show and produce the presentation files for the event.
World Environment Day 2023: Fortunately, we know how to solve the plastic crisis. The solution doesn’t involve costly high tech or impossible international diplomacy. Every nation can act, without looking over the shoulder asking what others are doing
One warm Mumbai afternoon back in 2015 a young Indian man looked out of the window from the tenth floor of his apartment building. He got a glimpse of the beach. What he saw was a horrible sight. Versova, the beloved beach from his childhood, had become a dreadful hell of pollution. No young couple walked the beach. No elderly engaged in games. None played cricket or football. Fishermen were struggling to meet ends with a poor catch.
Mr. Erik Solheim.
Versova beach was covered by half a meter of plastic of different hues and colour, washed up from the sea over decades. I have travelled the world, but never seen a sight quite like that.
Afroz Shah, a lawyer and counsel at Bombay High Court – decided to act. Different from how most of us would have reacted, Afroz acted in a true Gandhian way. He simply went down to the beach and started picking plastics. On his way down the stairs he met an 84-year old neighbour who joined him.
There they stood, just two human beings with an impossible task. But soon the duo were joined by ten, then hundred, then a thousand people. At the end hundreds of thousands of Indians, mostly young people, joined Afroz in cleaning up the beach at Versova and making the Mithi river great again.
Afroz unknowingly created a true Gandhian movement. “You need to be the change you want to see in the world”,the old sage told us. Today Afroz Shah Foundation is mobilising thousands into climate action every weekend. It is running education programmes in poor communities. Prime Minister Modi has described Afroz as a Hero of India. Afroz has received numerous international awards.
Afroz’s action on the beaches of Mumbai soon got the attention of more powerful people. Top business leaders joined him on weekend clean ups. They offered heavy equipment like tractors, and even more importantly they embarked upon a dialogue on how to change business practice and quell the plastic crisis at source. Political leaders from Maharashtra and India from different political parties rolled up their sleeves and asked Afroz for advice on political regulations of plastics in India.
What began as an individual’s battle against plastic soon became a vast movement for politicians and businessmen to forge a new pact between humans and nature. From cleaning-up of waste to single-use plastic to implementing circular economy – the journey of Afroz set an example for all of us.
When plastic was introduced in America in the 1950s, it was seen as the wonder material. One could preserve food better, make cars and aircraft lighter and protect against dangerous bacteria. But as often in human life, when we discover something good, we get addicted. We start overusing it.
There are three main reasons why humanity need to get out of the plastic addiction.
Plastics have no role in nature. It causes environmental catastrophe. A whale died in Thailand recently. It vomitted plastic bags while dying. Sea birds dive down mistaking plastics for shellfish. They feed their chick with this disastrous food. They perish, as do camels, cows and turtles, in all corners of the world.
Single-use plastic is an added economic disaster. Who will swim on the wonderful beaches of Goa, Sri Lanka or Bali, if you have to crawl through a sea of plastics? For this reason, tourist-dependent Indonesia declared plastic pollution as a major economic threat to the nation.
Plastics find their way into our bodies. We breath plastics, we drink plastic, we eat plastics. Bigger plastic items seep into our bodies as microplastics. Fish carries plastics. Even the most pristine waters of the world, in the Himalayas or the Arctic now contain microplastics. We don’t know exactly how microplastics will affect the human body. But no one has suggested it is good for us.
Fortunately, we know how to solve the plastic crisis. The solution doesn’t involve costly high tech or impossible international diplomacy. Every nation can act, without looking over the shoulder asking what others are doing. I have joined Afroz for many clean ups in Mumbai. Plastic pollution, different from climate, is at the core of national and local crisis. India can act to clean up in the spirit of Swacch Bharat. Other nations can do the same.
The cleanest nation in the world is the most improbable place. In small, poor, landlocked Rwanda you cannot find a single piece of garbage in the streets.The capital Kigali is absolutely clean. “All Rwandans keep clean at home;” president Paul Kagame told me. “We just needed to transform that spirit to the community at large.”
The solution is three fold.
We should prohibit all single-use plastics we do not need. Let us simply ban straws, plastic cutlery, plastic cups and bags. This is what the Indian government has done even if its not yet fully respected everywhere. The European Union has done the same. We can all drink straight from a normal glass, without straws. The average north American uses 600 straws a year. Does it make them more happy? There is no need to wait. Lets just do it!
Additionally, we can be a lot more innovative. Straws can be made from bamboo or from paper. Indians have through millenniums eaten from plates made of banana leaves. All over the planet startups are trying to make products from potatoes, sugar canes and many other natural materials. If we throw away natural products, they will disintegrate in nature. Like a banana skin.
But still we may end up with many plastic products which are useful and not so easy to replace. During the covid pandemic , plastic curtain was the first line of defence against the disease. A normal car contains many kilos of plastics, it makes the car lighter and it consumes less energy. These plastics must be brought in and recycled.
If you walk along the Mithi river in Mumbai, you will never see plastic bottles. The reason is simple. The bottles have value and ragpickers will sell them to supplement their income. Only the plastics without value pollute our beautiful beaches and rivers. All countries should introduce Extended Producer Responsibility. A company which contributes to the plastic crisis should also be held responsible for funding and innovating the solution. With Extended Producer Responsibility companies will be engaged in driving the technology for change. They will have to pay a levy on plastics which governments can use to organise plastic collection and pay for large scale recycling.
What started at Versova Beach in Mumbai has become a global movement. A young Sri Lankan Nishanka De Silva started Zero Plastics movement in the midst of the economic meltdown of his home country. Incredibly, young Sri Lankans turned out in droves to support the movement and making it a great success.
The Indian city of Indore has been repeatedly rewarded as the cleanest city of India. Its time we make all Indian cities like Indore. On world environment day – lets join hands to beat plastic pollution.
In June, the Swiss packaging solution provider SIG marked another milestone in its long history – 170 years of operation. Founded in 1853 and headquartered in Neuhausen, Switzerland, the company took the opportunity to look back on its impressive history of ingenuity and innovation, visit its present, and explore the exciting potential the future holds. Moreover, the event enabled customers and employees to experience firsthand what SIG stands for today and will stand for tomorrow: SIG – for better.
The first celebratory event on June 17th centered on residents from Neuhausen’s local community, who were invited to SIG’s industrial area and headquarters to explore the facility and enjoy a food festival.
On June 20th, customers from all over the world participated in an exclusive event that included a tour through the ages from SIG’s perspective and a celebratory dinner. The final event occurred two days later on June 22nd when SIG leaders arrived for an intensive two-day leadership meeting.
Samuel Sigrist, CEO, SIG: “Being in operation for 170 years is something to celebrate and it was an excellent opportunity for us to showcase the spirit of SIG to our global customers and employees. The events reinforced the fact that while SIG has evolved over time, one aspect of our company has always remained the same, our commitment to delivering better for customers, consumers, and the world.”
Today, SIG is a leading provider of sustainable, innovative, and versatile packaging solutions. The company works in partnership with customers to bring food products to consumers globally in a safe, sustainable, and affordable way. In 1906 its long journey in food packaging began with packaging chocolates.
The first beverage carton and filling machine was launched in Europe in 1930, while it was not until 1955 that Scholle, now part of SIG, invented the revolutionary bag-in-box format that transformed distribution of liquid storage.
In 1975, beverage carton provider PKL introduced its combibloc aseptic packaging and filling system. SIG acquired PKL in 1989, creating a pathway for growth in aseptic packaging. At the beginning of this century, SIG decided to focus entirely on its packaging business and has since become one of the industry’s lead players. Joining forces with Scholle IPN and Evergreen Asia in 2022 extended its range to now include fresh and aseptic carton, bag-in-box, and spouted pouches.
SIG today is a leading sustainable packaging solutions provider and the world’s only system supplier covering carton, spouted pouch, and bag-in-box. The company’s versatile technology and capacity for product innovation means customers benefit from a wide range of solutions across categories and channels, which address consumer, market, and planet needs with responsibility, flexibility, speed, and affordability.
The company is committed to working towards net positivity and has split its sustainability initiatives into four core areas: Climate+, Forest+, Resource+, and Food+. To date, this commitment has seen SIG leading its industry in responsible sourcing and sustainable innovations.
All this reflects the spirit of SIG’s brand promise, “For better”. The phrase inspires its innovation of sustainable solutions and pioneering technology, all to transform its customers’ businesses and the world for better.
Innovative Plant Designed by STADLER for Eco.Ge.Ri Recovers Value from Waste to Deliver High-Quality Recyclables and Solid Recovered Fuel
Porcarelli Group is an Italian company that operates across the entire waste chain – from collection to transport, all the way to the valorisation of waste as raw materials. Luciano Porcarelli, co-owner of the group with his brother Giuseppe, explains: “Our company was founded over 50 years ago out of the conviction that waste can replace raw materials in industry, safeguarding natural resources.” The Group operates five plants with the aim of returning waste into the production cycle, reducing the consumption of virgin raw materials and energy. To date, its plants have recovered over 3 million tonnes of recyclable fractions.
When planning its Eco.Ge.Ri plant dedicated to the production of Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) from industrial waste, which was inaugurated in 2022 in Finale Emilia (Modena), the Porcarelli Group trusted STADLER for its cutting-edge sorting technology, its expert design, professional and fast installation, and TOMRA for its advanced sensor-based technology. “We have been successfully collaborating with STADLER since 2012. When we decided to build a new modern plant in Finale Emilia STADLER was the obvious choice,” says Luciano Porcarelli. “Its experience in different waste sectors was invaluable to help us design a flexible and robust plant.” The Eco.Ge.Ri plant is one of the most innovative facilities of its kind in Europe and diverts from landfill approximately 150,000 tonnes a year of waste that cannot be further recovered.
This project, with Eco.Ge.Ri’s innovative vision, STADLER’s engineering expertise in the design and construction of custom-made recycling plants, and advanced sorting solutions, demonstrates that waste management can be sustainable and cost-effective, and contribute to preserving natural resources and reducing our overall environmental impact.
Extreme flexibility, high throughput, consistently high-quality output
Gruppo Porcarelli’s requirements for the plant were clear: they needed a facility capable of very high throughput with the flexibility to process a variety of infeed materials while maintaining a consistent high quality of the output across the process with maximum recovery of recyclable materials.
STADLER presented an innovative design concept: “We combined our ballistic separators and high-speed acceleration conveyors with film stabilizer, which ensure excellent materials selection and PVC control,” says Pietro Navarotto, STADLER Sales Director Italy. The design delivers on all counts: “The plant receives industrial waste from different sources with an input capacity from 20 to 30 tph. It successfully recovers iron, aluminium, multiple types of plastics – PET, PEHD, PELD, PP, PS, PU – paper and cardboard, and of course very high-quality SRF.”
The design addressed the challenge of the variability of the infeed materials with two infeed lines, which can be used independently or together, depending on the quality and density of the material. The first line feeds the material to a STADLER trommel screen for size selection (<60mm; medium size 60mm to 350mm; and oversized >350mm), while the second line has a shredder for size reduction followed by a further STADLER trommel screen for size selection.
Materials in the 60 to 350mm range go through two STADLER STT5000_8 ballistic separators to sort out fines, 3D and 2D material. This is STADLER’s all-rounder, ideal for separating pre-sorted MSW, moderately heavy and heavy materials. STADLER’s new high-speed acceleration conveyor with the new STADLER film stabilizer transports the 3D and 2D materials to TOMRA near infrared (NIR) sorters at speeds of 4.5 m/s. Two of the sorters eject plastics with high chlorine values from the 2D stream, while the other two sort plastics for recovery from the 3D stream, and the remaining material goes to SRF. A TOMRA RDF analyses the SRF, checking in real-time the output material quality in terms of calorific values, humidity and product composition to ensure they meet the requirements for usage.
Smooth and timely commissioning
The Eco.Ge.Ri plant was designed and built in record time, completed on time in just three months. Due to the tight schedule, installation was done while the building was still under construction. STADLER’s careful planning and coordination with the construction companies involved on site ensured timely commissioning, with start up on 6 June 2022.
This capacity as a standout benefit in this project for Luciano Porcarelli, who appreciated the most “without doubt STADLER’s flexibility in approaching all the difficulties we had building a new plant with different civil companies working at the same time. Their experience in complicated assemblies has been really helpful.”
A successful collaboration
Eco.Ge.Ri is the second plant that STADER has designed and built for Gruppo Porcarelli: “in 2012 we built a waste treatment plant for the recovery of raw materials and production of SRF, and since then we’ve had a very successful collaboration,” says Pietro Navarotto.
STADLER’s approach to designing and building sorting plants with a strong local team backed by its Head Office organization has once again proved effective, as Luciano Porcarelli highlighted: “STADLER managed all the project design from their Italian branch. We really appreciated this local approach because it made the communication between companies much faster and easier.”
For more information, visit http://www.w-stadler.de
