Page 26 from: December 2016

26 December 2016

T R A D E S H O W

The international plastics and rubber industry is in ‘top shape’, according to Ulrich Reifenhäuser, chairman

of the K-2016 trade show advisory board. The much-anticipated event in the German city of Düsseldorf

once again played host to sorting innovations, advanced pulverising, baling and grinding equipment, and

even ‘machines that can almost talk’.

A total of 230 000 visitors and 3285 exhibi-tors from all over the world attended
this year’s K-2016 event in Düsseldorf during
late October. Some 70% came from outside of
Germany while almost 30 000 visitors arrived
from South, East and Central Asia. ‘I have never
seen such a vast number of decisive customers
willing to buy at a trade fair before,’ enthused
Ulrich Reifenhäuser, chairman of the K-2016
trade show advisory board, pointing also to an
‘excellent mood’ and ‘strong investment drive’
during the eight-day event.

More equipment and materials demand
Global sales of plastics and rubber processing
equipment are expected to grow by almost 3.5%

in the period from 2016 to 2018, reports Euro-
map, the European association for plastic and
rubber machinery manufacturers. It estimates
that global production will be worth around
Euro 35 billion in 2016 while a 2% increase in
production in Europe will take the figure to
almost Euro 14 billion.
Meanwhile, global production of plastic exceed-
ed 320 million tonnes last year, according to
trade association PlasticsEurope. Of this vol-
ume, 270 million tonnes consisted of materi-
als processed to make plastic products. The
remaining 50 million tonnes was used in the
manufacture of coatings, adhesives, dispersions,
varnishes and paints. According to figures from
the International Rubber Study Group, almost

29 million tonnes of rubber was manufactured
and consumed in 2015.

Sorting revolution from ‘outer space’
From afar, the Powersort 360 produced by Ger-
man firm Unisensor more closely resembles an
alien spaceship than a piece of recycling equip-
ment. Its sleek, rounded design and assortment
of flickering lights were certainly a showstopper
at the K-2016 trade show.
The machine can sort black plastics at a rate
of 10 tons per hour using laser spectroscopy.
Unisensor’s 360 unit combines eight high-
performance sorters in a single machine,
arranged in a circle. This set-up provides the
system with an effective scanning width of four
metres, while up to eight different sorting tasks
can be programmed simultaneously. ‘We have
been working on this machine for almost 15
years, and this is its world premiere,’ Unisen-
sor founder Professor Dr Günther Krieg told
Recycling International at the show.
The Powersort 360’s patented detection system
excites the molecules in the plastics via a ‘pow-
erful’ laser light source, thus analysing the light
spectrum that the individual parts emit, regard-
less of colour. ‘This is our answer to recyclers
faced with a growing stream of black plastics
and dark grey plastics; these dark hues are very
popular in the car plastics as well as consumer
electronics markets,’ Krieg observed.
The system’s ‘extremely high’ signal process-
ing speed means that one million spectra can
be generated and evaluated every second,
explained Krieg, who is a member of the
Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences tech-
nology community. A prototype of the sorting
system is currently running at the school for
educational purposes, he stated.
The machine is relatively compact and caters to
a wide range of materials, including ABS, PS,

By Kirstin Linnenkoper

Plastics sector enjoys
‘strong investment drive’

Size reduction specialist WEIMA
presented its all-new WKS single-

shaft shredder series with 1400,
1800, and 2200 mm working width.