Page 54 - Plastics News November 2017

PRODUCT NEWS

Tamil Nadu school students Collin shows off its 'plug and

develop plastic recycling machine play' upscalability

n innovative idea of converting plastic waste into useful ollin Lab & Pilot Solutions showcased various
Amaterial by developing a new machine helped seven Cnew development at Fakuma 2017. CEO Friedrich
students from the government school at Palanganatham Kastner pointed to various new developments on
in Ariyalur district get recognition in the National Science display, emphasizing that at Collin, the common
Festival 2017 held at Chennai. denominator and key theme behind all developments,
was modularity. "We produce lines of different
The students, led by their science teacher J Usha came
up with the concept of plastic cutter. The machine that sizes — our range goes from small-scale lines for
can be operated manually is designed in such a way that basic research and medical technology and pilot
lines up to production lines. What our customers
want is upscalability. Essentially, we deliver plug-
and-play systems. You can start with an installation
for producing five-layer film, but, because of our
modularity, extruders can easily be added to go up
to nine layers." One of the latest developments is a
blown film line that has been completely updated and
technically optimized, Kastner said, and is equipped
with a
new take-
off unit,
lay-f lat
unit and
winder.
it shreds plastic bottles into threads. These threads could T h e
then be used to make other useful materials like different company
types of ornaments and basket that is used in a basketball was also showcasing its PolyTest line of inspection
court. "While the debate over recycling used plastic was and testing devices. Kastner demonstrated the "multi-
discussed widely, we decided to create something that inspection" unit, consisting of a chill roll unit with a
could recycle plastics. After long discussion, we decided roll mill for optical and mechanical film inspection
to create the thread out of used plastic which can be including a film winder and optionally an upstream
used to make multiple products," said Usha, science rheological measuring section. It allows for real-time
teacher at the school. The students and their guide, who monitoring of the melt viscosity, statistical error
had attended the festival held at the Anna University in in the film, color monitoring, detection of foreign
Chennai on October 16 were awarded with model science polymers by NIR analysis and determination of stress-
village award. Their first recognition came last year in the strain values in a film tensile test.
form of inspire award. The science model was not only
selected for the state-level science exhibition but also for "The line is used for the analysis of different plastics
the national-level competition at New Delhi. One of the material and mixtures, but also for the processing
seven members of the team, S Abinaya never dreamt that of virgin materials, compounds, masterbatches or
they would get an opportunity to visit New Delhi for their the analysis of recycled plastics material," Kastner
idea. She was among the few who got an opportunity to said. "It's ideal for testing recycled material. It
ask questions at the India International Science Festival, provides continuous sampling and online analysis of
2017. Sharing her experience of speaking at the event, the material, which, after all, is usually made up
Abinaya said, "I asked about the steps taken in the field of of a mixture of post-consumer waste. It shows the
recycling plastics that are becoming a threat to mankind. different material fractions, calculates the e-modulus
It was indeed a memorable moment to get replies from and much more. We've also targeted it, cost-wise,
renowned scientists attending the festival." at the typical recycler, so the price is an accessible
one," he explained.
Plastics News N ovember 2017 54