Page 49 from: Recycling Technology 2016

51
2016

Application: SHREDDING

Erdwich’s recycling solu-
tions stand up to the test
Every recycling and disposal process is individual because of the different
material properties, output specifications, final material size and purity demands.
Standard technologies can barely cover this breadth of requirements.

F
or more than 33 years, Erdwich Zerklei-
nerungssysteme GmbH in Germany has
been focusing on crushing, granulation

and recycling tasks, with over 6500 machines
and plants delivered to customers in 87 coun-
tries. Over the years, the family business, sit-
uated at Kaufering in Bavaria, has become a
world leader and one of the most experienced
companies in the industry.

Its machines are mostly used for volume
reduction, product destruction, material
separation and recycling of raw materials.
However, each job is unique in terms of con-
ditions and requirements in that, for example,
the machinery must fit within a given space or
must provide accurate, reproducible results.

‘Every new application is a challenge,’ says
project manager Andreas Ostermeier. ‘That’s
why we have specialised in designing 100%
according to the customer’s specifications.
Therefore, continuous innovations belong to
some extent to the standard programme.’

‘Unlocking’ electronics from fridges
To realise such a wide range of individual

solutions, Erdwich uses an extensive array of
machines and works with a team of experi-
enced engineers, designers and mechanics.
This has made it possible, among other things,
to develop a plant for a chemical company
which not only separates the glass cuvettes of
plastic covers and styrofoam packaging, but
also resists the acids contained therein and re-
moves them safely. Other products from these
recycling experts include coarse crushers that

gently ‘unlock’ electronic waste from a wash-
ing machine and break down the individual
fractions. More than 40 million refrigerators
have been recycled already using Erdwich
technology. These systems were designed as
closed plants to ensure no escape of CFCs;
instead, these harmful greenhouse gases are
either converted into liquid form and emptied
into special disposal containers or thermally
destroyed onsite.

There is hardly any application in which
Erdwich machinery is not being used, includ-
ing for handling metal swarf, tyres, bulky
waste, banknotes, pharmaceutical/chemical
products, paper rejects and hazardous waste.

Testing department
Development of all these machinery solu-

tions is based on extensive tests with differ-
ent materials and machines. In 2010, Erdwich
built its own testing area that enables a cus-
tomer’s material to be tested under real oper-

ating conditions for constant adaptation and
optimisation of existing plants. ‘We can test
all forms of blades, counter-cutting systems,
programmes, etc. in the test centre,’ says Os-
termeier. ‘We can read out all the parameters
of the machine and the shredding operation,
and pass them to the customer on request.’

A total of 13 machines are currently avail-
able to the technicians, including various sing-
le-, two- and three-shaft shredders in various
designs as well as two cardboard shredders, a
coarse shredder and a hammer mill.

Configuration options range from rotor-
stator cutting systems with different hole sieve
geometries to define the size of every piece,
to cutting units with ejection possibilities for
extraneous material up to different drive vari-
ants. Depending on the size and type of shred-
ding plant, throughput is between 5 kg and 30
tons per hour.

‘Intelligent’ ejection
Currently at the company test centre,

Erdwich is working mainly on fine-tuning
its new M800/1 single-shaft shredder, which
is equipped with automatic ejection flap for
extraneous material. ‘In the models cur-
rently available, extraneous material must
be removed by hand after recognition,’ says
Ostermeier. ‘The new technology, however,
detects such foreign matter and discharges it
automatically. This saves time and protects
the operating personnel.’

The ‘smart’ machine is being tested with
different materials and control programmes
in order to determine the ideal configura-
tion for use. Besides individual adjustment
depending on the application, the flexibility
of the products and the long experience of the
engineers at Erdwich bring another advantage
in that the company was able to adapt very
quickly to new European standards and build
refrigerator recycling plants according to the
CENELEC standard, thus making the com-
pany a pioneer in this area.

Website: www.erdwich.com

PRODUCTS + SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS

Company
Erdwich Zerkleinerungssysteme GmbH

M800/1 single-shaft shredder, which is
equipped with automatic ejection flap for
extraneous material.

RM 1350 coarse shredder

The company’s in-house test centre enables
experts to test configurations and material
variants using 13 different machines

Refrigerator recycling plant in China.

RM 1350
coarse

shredder.
Erdwich

test center.