COMMENT
The word from Hird
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RICHARD HIRD, CHAIRMAN OF THE POLYMER MACHINERY MANUFACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION (PMMDA), REFLECTS ON CHAIRING THE SUSTAINABLY STAGE AT INTERPLAS 2021 AND DISCUSSES A KEY AREA IN WHICH PMMDA MEMBERS AND OTHER MOULDING MACHINERY SUPPLIERS ARE ASSISTING PROCESSORS IS ENERGY REDUCTION IN THE MOULD SHOP.
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hilst at Interplas I had the pleasure of chairing a seminar on the Sustainably Stage, focusing on the up-and-coming Packaging Tax and the value of Post Consumable Recyclate (PCR) material. What became evident is that some of the so called ‘Single Use Plastics’ are a valuable commodity if the supply chain is sustainable. This starts with the consumer not treating this versatile material as waste, but as a valuable resource that can be re-used or recycled to help alleviate the issue of Climate Change. This is a truly ‘circular economy’ material if there ever was one, especially as it is easier and cheaper to recycle than glass, with a lower carbon footprint. All this is not news for most of us in the industry, but we may have been a little slow in making the most of this valuable resource. However, this is changing, possibly due to the imminent Packaging Tax as a catalyst, with many companies leading the way and some of those assisted by members of the PMMDA. One such member is ancillary supplier Labotek GB, who over the last 18 months has been working on a number of Silo, Blending and Conveying installations where customers are either re-selling their recylate into other sectors/processes or switching over to PCR - in some cases up to 100%. Others are setting up their own in-house reprocessing lines. Tim Peet, Director of Labotek GB observed “We started seeing a trend just before the start of the pandemic, which has developed into our main focus as a business, with sustainability a key ethos at Labotek.” Another key area in which PMMDA members and other moulding machinery suppliers are assisting processors is energy reduction in the mould shop - in particular with the advent of servo hydraulic machines. A typical example is White Horse Plastics (WHP) based in Oxfordshire, who recently ordered a SmartPower 60 from Wittmann Battenfeld UK (WIBA UK). WHP Managing Director Paul Bobby commented “after labour and raw material costs, energy and utilities present us with the next
In closing, our industry has a lot to shout about and educate the wider audience of the true value of a truly sustainable material and equipment that is already contributing to improving Climate Change.
most significant overhead. I always expect to see some significant improvement when comparing old to new, but these outcomes were far more impressive than could ever have been hoped for. In fact, the greatly reduced running costs from the SmartPower machine were so incredible that it led to us repeating the exercise in order to check our methodology. But when repeated these results were exactly the same.” WIBA UK’s Tracy Cadman added that “the bonus for everyone is that green energy is profitable energy - and by some way when we have customers of all kinds telling us that our newly supplied equipment is now reducing their energy consumption by a factor of between five and ten.” In addition, Steve Lacey of STV Machinery, suppliers of refurbished machines and Yizumi machines asks the question - does replacing an otherwise good variable displacement pump machine give real energy saving, when compared to the latest servo hydraulic machine? In his opinion it does - citing an example where one of his customers conducted a real-world direct comparison between his existing 10 year old machine and a new Servo Hydraulic Yizumi, resulting in a net energy cost saving of £252 over a 3 shift 168 hour production/week. Lacey’s advice is to always conduct a true comparative test rather than take the published savings at face value, as every moulding process will have its’ own particular parameter and running conditions. In closing, our industry has a lot to shout about and educate the wider audience of the true value of a truly sustainable material and equipment that is already contributing to improving Climate Change.
www.britishPLASTICS.co.uk
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