Page 61 from: Recycling International November/December issue 2024
BUSINESS
61recyclinginternational.com | November/December | 2024
DEMONSTRATING SUCCESS
‘It’s exciting to walk around the facili-
ty and see how our team’s hard work
has paid off,’ says Julia Stadler, who
heads digital solutions at the family
company. ‘This is my first time here in
Turin. We have so many plants world-
wide, it’s impossible to see them all
immediately. It’s good to visit and see
a plant with your own eyes, though.
This press tour is a great reason to
have the whole team here.’
She echoes her father’s sentiments
that close collaboration and consult-
ing is the key to success. ‘Gaining
insights into your plant is becoming
ever more important. Data is every-
thing. My digital solutions depart-
ment is eager to make operating a
plant easier by offering Stadler
Connect.’
The AI-driven system can detect
blockages while analysing bales and
predicting maintenance. ‘Did you
know that around 40% of downtime
at plants is caused by blockages?’
Julia Stadler asks. ‘There’s either too
much material or the wrong material
together.’
By helping recyclers solve these prac-
tical issues, Stadler is ensuring its
equipment is running smoothly, with-
out unnecessary interruptions. ‘We
want to do more than simply deliver a
plant. We want all assets to be run-
ning at optimal level.’
RIGHT ON TIME
At every stage, Stadler’s sense of
teamwork and commitment were cru-
cial in making the project a success,
reports Iren’s technical manager
Flaviano Fracaro. He recalls that the
construction phase coincided with a
period of great difficulty in global
transport services. This led to numer-
ous delays, meaning more stress and
potentially much higher costs.
‘Despite these challenges, Stadler
was able to adapt and reorganise the
work, maintaining very fast construc-
tion and commissioning times,’
Fracaro sats. Completing such a com-
plex plant in a short time frame is no
easy task but Stadler got the job
done ‘safely, transparently and on
time’.
‘Circular Plastic is a truly impressive
facility with all its machines and opti-
cal sorters,’ Fracaro says with a proud
smile. ‘What we appreciate most is
the layout’s space management, with
walkways that make all the machines
accessible and the entire plant easy
to navigate. It ensures excellent
access for maintenance.’
For example, detection sensors on
motors facilitate data collection and
analysis for preventive machine mainte-
nance. In addition, the entire plant can
be monitored remotely with dedicated
software that collects and records more
than 1 000 signals at a time to generate
periodic reports to help schedule for
predictive maintenance.
‘The various management systems for
operators makes it is very easy and intui-
tive to control the entire facility.’
recover any remaining valuable mate-
rials.
ADVANCED FEATURES
The sorting cabin is equipped with an
efficient air conditioning system that
maintains a comfortable working envi-
ronment all year round. The air is
refreshed ten times per hour.
Stadler also installed an advanced
load cell system to monitor the quan-
tity of incoming material and the
quantities of the different materials
stored in the bunkers ready for bal-
ing. This enables the operator in
charge of the baling presses to keep
track of exactly how much material is
contained in each bunker and to cal-
culate the number of bales for each
product. Iren is considering expand-
ing the site with an automated bale
de-wiring unit, called WireX, which
Stadler launched earlier this year.
Gunari says that the start-up phase
was very quick. ‘There was one month
of material testing and we were ready
to go. It helps that we have lots of
legs on the floor, so to speak, with all
these conveyors. Material is constant-
ly moving.’
He likens the plant set-up to the pop-
ular balancing blocks game, Jenga.
‘Our Circular Plastics hub is built to
be flexible. Is one unit down? No
problem, we can keep going. The
sorters help each other but they work
independently.’
POWERFUL PARTNERSHIP
The new facility in Turin is the latest
chapter in a successful collaboration
between Iren and Stadler. ‘We are
proud to be Iren’s supplier,’ says
Paolo Cravedi, senior project manag-
er at Stadler. ‘We started with a small
project in 2020, then went on to work
together on Iren’s e-scrap plant in
Volpiano.’
After that, the tech provider worked
on its plastic recycling plant in
Pianezza and the ReCap facility in
Parma, which processes both plastics
and cardboard. ‘Our team also
designed and built the Valterza plant
in Asti, which sorts mixed plastic
waste made up of mainly bottles and
films.’
The recycling plant sorts 17 types of materials, including polymers, aluminium and ferrous scrap.
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