Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2022 - 28

continued from page 27
Recognising the importance of
flexible connectiveness, several
system partners will be integrated
into the machine concepts
shown at K 2022. In the MES
area, in addition to Haitian Smart
Solutions' own " GoFactory " , another
MES partner will be presented
specifically for the European
market. All five exhibits will
be connected to both systems.
Next to introducing its precisionMolding
and powerMolding injection
moulding machine series
- already available in Asia - to its
customers in Europe and North
America, KraussMaffei (hall 15,
stand C15/C24-D24) will also
be showcasing new digital solutions
designed to achieve a more
energy-efficient production - important
in an era where energy
prices are soaring. Visitors to the
stand will also see a complete
circular economy circuit in action:
an all-electric PX 200-1400
in cleanroom design will be manufacturing
caps for insulin pens
under cleanroom conditions, in
short cycle times. These will then
be shredded, fed into a ZE 28
BluePower twin-screw extruder
with a variety of additives, such
as bonding agent and liquid dye,
then blended and homogenised.
The recycled compound is subsequently
processed on the new
powerMolding 1300-11900 with a
clamping force of 13,000 kN into
an automotive front-end carrier
made of 100 percent recycled
material.
The company has also announced
its entry into the additive
manufacturing market with
new technology that will be unveiled
at K 2022.
Engel Austria (hall 15, stand
C58; the Circular Economy
Forum) has developed a new
process that enables ground
plastic flakes to be used in injection
moulding, thus eliminating
the pelletisation step from
the recycling process and significantly
improving its energy
and cost efficiency.
To be able to process flakes
in injection moulding, the recycling
process breaks plasticising
and injection down into
two process steps. In the first,
the plastic flakes derived from
28
The precisionMolding machine
is now available in Europe -
KraussMaffei
Dolly pallets from recycled
resin - Engel Austria
will introduce the high-speed
PAC-E line of machines, initially
targeting packaging and currently
available in the medium
tonnage range. Described as
a fusion of the El-Exis hybrid
platform and IntElect all-electric
series, the line features a
brand-new injection unit developed
specifically for high-speed
packaging. At K, the PAC-E
line will debut with an all-electric
350-ton model running a
72-cavity cap mould, illustrating
that the electrified press can
achieve the same cycle time as
the El-Exis.
At the show, the company is
The redesigned Elios 4500 - Netstal
also showcasing its web-based
myConnect software, which can
provide critical data and decision-making
information in real
time. In the future, all new machines
will be equipped with this
platform and its range of networked
support services, which
has been extended to include
condition monitoring.
Wittmann's EcoPower
injection moulding machine
post-consumer or post-industrial
collection are melted in a
conventional plasticising screw.
The melt is transferred to a second
screw for injection into the
cavity. Depending on the material
and application, a melt
filter and a degassing unit can
be integrated into the process
between the plasticising and
injection units. This means that
high-quality products can be
created - even from contaminated
plastic waste. Processing
plastic flakes directly significantly
improves the energy
footprint of the product by up
to 30%, the company said. At
K2022, Engel is presenting the
new, two-stage process for the
first time as a live exhibit at a
trade fair, producing dolly pallets
at the stand in the Circular
September/October 2022
Economy Forum in the openair
area between halls 11 and
16. A blend of polyolefins from
a post-industrial collection is
being processed on an Engel
duo 12060H/80Z/900 injection
moulding machine.
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, exhibiting
in hall 15, stand D22,
is further growing its all-electric
IntElect platform. First launched
with smaller tonnages-50 to
180 tons-the company in 2019
expanded the range from 220
to 500 tons. Basic machines
are available in the full range,
with higher-speed versions
launched in 2018 from 50 to 80
tons. At K 2022, they will offer
those IntElect S versions to 450
tons. In addition, the company
A true highlight at the Netstal
stand (hall 15, stand D24) is the
redesigned Elios 4500, which
now features a fully electric
clamp unit. At K, it will mould a
thinwall 150-ml, IML-decorated
yogurt cup from certified renewable
PP from Sabic based
on tall oil. According to the
company, switching to all-electric
mould closing allows for a
0.1 second faster dry cycle and a
7kW reduction in average power
consumption. The machine
is also 450 mm shorter. One
cup weighs just 6.5 grams. The
12-cavity mould, like the handling
system, comes from IML
Solutions. The cycle time will be
around 5 seconds. Combining
digitisation and circular economy,
the in-mould labels from
Verstraete will also feature digital
watermarks from the Holy
Grail 2.0 initiative.
As always, the Wittmann
Group's machinery presentation
is broad and comprehensive,
with applications on
display at the Wittmann Battenfeld
stand (hall 15, stand
C06), at the VDMA Circular
Economy Forum in the outdoor
area, and more equipment
presented at the booth of Witcontinued
on page 29
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