Page 28 from: January / February 2013

28 January/February 2013

Inspiring innovations
unveiled at Pollutec
Attracting more than 62 000 visitors and some 2300 exhibitors from
105 countries, the 2012 edition of Pollutec was once again hailed as
a great success. Recycling International was among the many to
attend the event – held in the French city of Lyon – and below pro-
vides a summary of some of the latest innovations that were on show.

Bollegraaf celebrates birth of ‘RoBB’
In Lyon, Dutch recycling equipment manufac-

turer Bollegraaf Recycling Solutions was like a

proud parent, issuing invitations to visitors to

come and take a look at its newest arrival,

namely robot RoBB – a fully-automated qual-

ity control system which can be programmed

to operate 24/7.

Bollegraaf ’s latest creation enables waste proc-

essors and recyclers to eliminate the need to

sort material on the conveyor belt by hand.

‘RoBB has been developed especially for qual-

ity control at the end of the waste line, where

specific plastics or paper remnants, for exam-

ple, are removed from the waste stream,’ the

manufacturer explains. In this way, RoBB is said

to deliver a competitive edge with regard to

purity and separation quality, giving the output

a premium value and resulting in ‘higher

returns per kilo of processed waste for waste

processors and recycling companies’.

A further major advantage is said to be savings

in wage costs given that economic considera-

tions ‘are playing an increasingly important role

in the recycling industry all over the world’,

argues the Dutch technology specialist.

Following its unveiling at Pollutec, the RoBB

system is scheduled for official release during the

first few months of 2013. www.bollegraaf.com

FORUS finds low-noise pre-crusher
solution

German manufacturer FORUS GmbH went to

Pollutec with what it described as the ‘quietest,

most powerful and intelligent pre-crusher on

the market’, according to Managing Director

Cathrin Wilhem. The HB 396 L model is

equipped with longer rollers, larger blades and

wider axle spacing to aid a higher throughput.

The FORUS pre-crusher is designed to be a help-

ful processing tool for all kinds of wood and

other recyclables. With an emphasis on efficien-

cy, the machine can achieve hourly capacities of

up to 40 tonnes of industrial waste, 90 tonnes of

household waste and 35 tonnes of wood.

Incorporating a brand new blade-clearer con-

cept, the HB 396 L yields homogeneous output

material. The quality is further enhanced by an

advanced in-built user interface which regulates

the optimised output control. ‘The pre-crush-

er also offers detailed fault indications with

instructions for immediate measures by the

operator,’ adds the manufacturer.

Designed to be capable of round-the-clock use,

the pre-crusher is hailed as ‘a reliable power-

house for large recycling companies’. However,

power does not necessarily equal noise: by

incorporating the latest generation of diesel

motors as well as a COWL sound damper and

cutting-edge insulation material, noise output

averages only 15 dB. www.forus.de

ASM shows off new sorting vision
In its bid to extend the frontiers of optical elec-

tronic sorting, Italy-based recycling technology

expert Advanced Sorting Machines (ASM)

graced this year’s Pollutec exhibition in Lyon

with its Vision 100 development. The system is

suitable for treating a wide array of material –

spanning recyclables such as plastics and glass,

as well as nuts and fruit.

The new sorting series contains a state-of-the-

art Blob Analysis system – a novel solution for

acquiring and processing images. The combina-

tion of a 2048-pixel CCD camera sensor and

integrated generation microprocessors means

the Vision 100 is able to execute millions of

operations per second, notes ASM. As the cam-

era offers a detailed multi-colour analysis, the

sorter can eliminate both

light and dark defects

simultaneously.

Besides providing

highly accurate sort-

ing performance,

the machine is also

said to score high

marks in terms of

self-checking, iden-

tifying all possible

causes of non-opti-

E x h i b i t i o n By Kirstin Linnenkoper

RI_1-Pollutec.indd 28 28-01-13 16:08