PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2016

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 25 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 06/16 www.petpla.net MATERIAL / RECYCLING 25 Uwe Lauf, operation manager Repasack www.bericap.com Unique range of light weight screw and sports closures for light weight PET neck standards for water • Closures for all common neck sizes 26/22, 28mm (PCO 1810, PCO 1881), 29/25, 30/25 • Light weight Hexalite range allowing light weight neck • Still water closures suitable for N 2 dosing • Sports closures fulfill BSDA requirements • Boreseal systems for excellent tightness • Consumer friendly opening forces BERI CAP Technology for still water The counting centre in Ober- hausen is one of the largest of its kind with 55 million containers per year (2014). In November 2014 in the former fertilizer warehouse, a milestone was reached of a total output of 500 million containers. The operator, Repasack, is a subsidi- ary of Interseroh, an environmental services provider active through- out Europe with one hundred sites. Repasack in Oberhausen has been counting packaging with deposits since 2006. Four presses stand in the hall; one of them was showing clear signs of ageing in 2014. The manufacturer ruled out of the pos- sibility of repair and recommended buying a new model. During the search for alternatives, the recycling experts struck gold at HSM. The HSM BRP 4810, according to Lauf, gave a “completely different impres- sion” at first sight and seemed “con- siderably more robust”. And then the testing started: the recycling experts went to Lake Constance with three hundred sacks of recycling material and tested the HSM machine. While whole bottles would crop up in briquettes made by machines from other manufactur- ers, HSM’s first test run went well, reported Uwe Lauf. But he agreed with HSM that the machine would have to be modified for the new press mate- rial. During a six month on-site trial at Oberhausen, the operators and the manufacturers optimised the press together. As a result of this, thicker plates were inserted, the gap dimen- sions were reduced and the software was enhanced. The operators and the manufacturers gave feedback through- out, HSM tailored the machine to their requirements for PET briquetting. Uwe Lauf: “It was a real win-win situation.” A further advantage of the HSM machine for the officials at Repasack is its ease of main- tenance. The third stage of compression, the main stage of pressing, and therefore the part during which the most wear and tear occurs, is completely replaceable. This third stage, according to Uwe Lauf, also distinguishes the HSM machine from the products of other manu- facturers, which operate in two stages. The results of HSM’s extra power: the machine spits out PET briquettes with a density of up to 400kg/m³ and tin can briquettes of up to 760kg/m³. The summary from Ober- hausen: after six months of operations Uwe Lauf said that the investment had already paid off. There has been no record of wear and tear yet and no break- down of the press. There was one case of a broken pressure switch and a cable was faulty, and then it became clear that the manufacturer’s after-sales- service at Lake Constance was also very good: “If you call them at midday, someone is here the next day at the latest” says the operations manager. He is pleased that, in future, HSM technicians will probably not need to come to Oberhausen, since he wants to make use of remote maintenance. Then he and his co-workers could even attach a webcam to the machine and show the manufacturer the problem. That is, if there are any. www.hsm.us www.interseroh.de