Tech majors: Merger of waste and recycling managers inevitable

The future is plastics recycling, proclaim Austria’s recycling equipment providers Erema and Lindner. The companies have founded a new business, Blueone Solutions, which aims to leverage their collective expertise and jointly develop industry standards in plastics recycling.

From waste to recycled granulate, potential new raw materials pass through several different recycling processes ranging from sorting, shredding, washing, and drying to extrusion, including filtration, compounding, and odour optimisation. Erema and Lindner believe the challenge for the industry lies in finetuning these individual recycling steps ‘in particular when energy efficiency and high recyclate qualities are to be achieved’.

According to the companies, the know-how and experience of Lindner Washtech will be combined with that of the extruder manufacturer Erema in Blueone Solutions. They aim to ‘significantly increase the added value and set industry standards by adjusting and optimising processes and conducting joint research projects’.

Erema has been active in plastics recycling for 40 years while Lindner has won its spurs delivering shredder technology solutions for 75 years. The two have set up joint research projects in the past, including pilot facilities at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria.

Common vision

The two companies say they share a vision of ‘expertly driving’ forward plastics recycling which has now resulted in the launch of Blueone Solutions. ‘Only when waste streams are optimally used can the required quantities of granulate be made available. And only if the processes between the individual recycling steps are perfectly adjusted, can an increase in efficiency and quality optimisation be achieved,’ says Lindner’s md Michael Lackner. ‘A functioning circular economy is only possible by merging waste management with recycling management.’

Optimising recycling processes

Lindner contributes its experience in processing waste streams and its expertise in washing, while Erema focusses on extruding and filtering. In future, the exchange of knowledge and new research projects will not only enable synergies to be exploited but, above all, will optimise the overall cycle, according to ceo Manfred Hackl of Erema Group. ‘A functioning recycling industry demands a focus on the entire process and value chain from waste collection and processing to recycling and the final plastic product,’ he argues.