Two-Stage Process Converts Post-Consumer Recyclate Into New Molded Parts
The new machine from Engel separates scrap plasticizing and injection into two independent process steps within one machine.
During its live e-symposium, injection molding machine and automation supplier Engel (Schwertberg, Austria) introduced a new two-stage process that can accept ground post-consumer scrap as a feedstock and convert it into new molded parts, including thick-walled components, without interim pelletization of the scrap material. Eliminating that step not only saves time and money, it lowers the heat history for the reclaimed resin.
In a release, Engel said the new machine breaks down plasticizing and injection into two independent process steps, which are nonetheless closely tuned to each other. In the first step, raw material is melted using a conventional plasticizing screw. During the second stage, that melt is transferred to a second screw for injection into the cavity. Alternatively, the plasticizing screw can be paired with piston or plunger style injection unit, allowing the molding of very large shots up to 160 kg in what the company calls a comparatively low injection-pressure process.
