Tech & Production
Recycling metals with greater accuracy
For Pre Fer Nord, we converted the recycling process drawn up by Galloo into a new recycling line. It sorts ferrous and non-ferrous metals even more accurately. In order to recover residual metals from incinerator ash more efficiently, Pre Fer Nord was looking for a partner to optimise their existing recycling plant. They turned to Galloo, a recycling company of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. They drew up the process and entrusted its realisation to Lybover. The Lybover way Thanks to our extensive product and machine knowledge, we were able to optimise Pre Fer Nord’s recycling plant. Thanks to the new installation, ferrous and non-ferrous metals are now sorted even more efficiently and accurately. This also means that fewer materials have to be landfilled, which is always a win. The right process and machine knowledge The aim of the plant is to process incineration ash more efficiently. Stones, large and small pieces of metal are reduced in the plant to below a certain size. In a subsequent installation, the iron and non-ferrous particles (copper, aluminium, zinc, bronze) are recovered. The stone grit is reused in concrete, stabilisers or as an underlay for roads. The metals go to Galloo, where they are improved, purified and delivered to smelters. In order to translate processes from paper to a working installation, Galloo has often relied on Lybover’s expertise. And with positive results. “We have the right process and machine knowledge in house and so we got the chance to build this installation too”, says Bart Vanpoucke, Business Unit Manager at Lybover RECYCLING. Tailor-made and extensively tested “The installation is completely customised,” explains Bart. “We will look internally and together with our partners at which machines are suitable for the process and for the specific material. Conveyor belts and magnets, everything is considered in function of the material. Knowledge of materials is therefore very important. We have that experience at Lybover.” It is also very important to talk to the customer. “We have to understand what the customer wants. What material needs to be recycled? What information is available? What does the customer want to achieve with the material? We start working with that information. We simulate the entire process. We show the physical result of our tests to the customer and explicitly check whether that is the result they expect.” “The project development went very smoothly. The cooperation between the project leader, design engineer, service engineer and mechanics went very well. This enabled us to build a beautiful installation within the timing of one year. Even after the start-up, we stay in contact with the customer to see how we can support them with periodic inspections, preventive maintenance and spare parts.” Quality through long-term partnerships Lybover has a lot of experience in building recycling lines. For the machines themselves, we rely on a number of regular partners. “Steinert is a German company that builds separation machines,” explains Bart. “We have had a partnership with them for a long time. We work very closely together and often exchange information. This also allows us to offer greater performance and more extensive support. Spaleck, another German company, does everything related to vibration technology for transport and screening. We have also been working with them for a long time. So we know very well what their machines can do. So we are once again getting the maximum performance out of them. “At Lybover we make the conscious decision not to have our own test centre. It makes much more sense to do the testing at our partners. They are the experts on their own machines. We often invite the customer to these tests as well. From the very beginning, we have also been very open about the fact that we work with these machine partners from the very beginning. They are usually even present when the project is signed. We notice that customers really appreciate this. They do not like buying an empty box. The more information they get beforehand, the greater their confidence.” The evolution of recycling Recycling has evolved greatly in recent years. “In each material category – metals, plastics, wood – we see an evolution towards more advanced separation,” Bart explains. “The evaluation of the separation process has therefore become very difficult. That is why we do so many tests and also work closely with the customer to create a customised installation.” “At Pre Fer Nord, for example, there was an old system that was no longer up to current standards. The fact that there is now a completely new installation gives me great satisfaction. Every material that we don’t have to landfill is a win. The fact that I can contribute to the better use of materials is very important to me. At Lybover you really get the chance to become an expert in what you do. That freedom ensures that I am stimulated and stay stimulated. That is really fascinating and challenging.
'Gericke & Indus WINS Innovations Award for the new Gericke/Indus Big Bag Pallet Unloader' image
Management
Gericke & Indus WINS Innovations Award for the new Gericke/Indus Big Bag Pallet Unloader
Gericke has engineered and designed a Big-Bag Pallet Unloader in collaboration with Indus, for the Neva stackable pallet to ensure optimal unloading of all powders (including poor flowing materials) in your factory. At the recent Solids trade fair in Antwerp (November 2022), the team received the jury award for best innovation! And that’s a key to today’s challenges: creating innovate products that are up to date with the latest industry requirements and trends can be difficult. Gericke and Indus, both well respected companies in the industry saw a gap in the market and decided to invest time and money to help customers become more sustainable, flexible and work more efficiently within their factories. The engineers at Gericke were excited to work alongside the Indus team to expand the market versatility of the Indus Neva pallet. These pallets are a practical design that offers a highly efficient method to reliably store, transport and discharge products from big bags. Discharging products is not so easy when you have difficult flowing products, low height building requirements and want minimal wastage and short turnaround times. The innovative unique design of the Gericke/Indus Big Bag Pallet Unloader is a modular based purchasing system which can have a combination of a vibrating motor, pneumatic under massagers and stretch system. These different modular options are decided based on your product flowability. The more difficult the product the more modular options you would require. And another big asset is that these unloaders are suitable for low building height requirements from 2.6 meters and up. These products have been engineered for safety and efficiency in mind and can comply with the latest hygienic requirements and certifications. Gericke can also supply all bulk handling equipment up to the next process. About Gericke The Swiss Gericke Group has been designing and manufacturing equipment and systems for modern bulk material processes, as well as providing design and consultation services, for more than 128 years. Gericke bulk materials processing technology can be found throughout the world in many sectors including the food, chemical, pharmaceutical, plastics and construction material industries. Gericke’s fully owned group companies employ more than 300 experienced professionals and are located in Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, France, USA, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and China. About Indus Since the foundation in 2004, the Dutch Indus has been specialising in big bag handling for industries where bulk materials must be processed and stored as safely and efficiently as possible. Our modular big bag handling solutions can be used as a stand-alone for stacking big bags and safe logistics, or used in combination with unloading frames when materials must be processed further. Indus products are used in the food industry, chemicals, plastics, and many more. By using our partner network, we can distribute products worldwide.
'KSE Process Technology festively opened its anniversary year on January 9th' image
Management
KSE Process Technology festively opened its anniversary year on January 9th
2023 marks the 50th anniversary year for KSE Process Technology, a dedicated equipment and software manufacturer based in the Netherlands. KSE has grown from a small company that focused on electrical installations in the agricultural branch to an internationally recognized supplier of dosing and weighing equipment and automation software to animal nutrition and related industries. During this festive ceremony for the employees of KSE, company CEO Riemer Posthumus looked back on the milestones achieved through the hard work and dedication of our culture of customer service that exists throughout the entire organization and what our plans are for the future. An important aspect is that KSE will be focusing more on global sustainable development goals. On March 25, KSE will open its doors to the public as part of the Open Bedrijven Dag, a regional open house event for companies in the area. During this event, everyone is welcome to visit the manufacturing facility of KSE. About KSE Process Technology Founded in 1973, KSE Process Technology supplies dosing and weighing equipment, automation solutions, and services for animal nutrition and related industries. The portfolio of KSE’s dosing and weighing solutions covers everything from micro up to bulk components. KSE’s future-proof PROMAS ST automation software completely automates production processes. Remote support with online diagnostics and a 24/7 helpdesk is available to customers around the world. The company is based in Bladel, in the south of the Netherlands, and currently has 200 employees but is active worldwide.
'Ausnutria - How autosampling became essential for a streamlined production process' image
Automation
Ausnutria - How autosampling became essential for a streamlined production process
We supply our machines to a large number of customers in various industries. In many plants, our machines play an important role in the process line. At Ausnutria, a sampling system (autosampler) is an essential link in the production process. Ausnutria is a producer of infant formula products and milk powder. These products are supplied worldwide, and in China, Ausnutria is even the main supplier in the baby food industry. Arjan van Dijk, project manager at Ausnutria, explains the enormous time savings and the large reduction in product waste that autosampling generates. "WITH OUR NEW AUTOMATIC SAMPLER, WE DON’T HAVE TO TAKE 60 SAMPLES MANUALLY ANYMORE, THIS REDUCES LABOR HOURS AND PRODUCT WASTE." Read the whole story of mr Arjan van Dijk (project manager at Ausnutria) on our renewed website.
'Heathland recycles high-quality PMMA plastics' image
Tech & Production
Heathland recycles high-quality PMMA plastics
To realise a new and comprehensive PMMA recycling value chain in Europe, Heathland aims to develop a process to turn PMMA waste into a quality end product. For the analysis and implementation of the first phase, Heathland chose Lybover Recycling. Its years of experience with various recycling processes in a wide variety of sectors makes all the difference. Dutch-based Heathland is a collector and processor of post-production plastic waste. The focus is mainly on PMMA (PolyMethylMethAcrylate) plastic. Most of the waste comes from Europe. Heathland collects the waste and then proceeds to sort and mechanically or chemically recycle it into raw materials for various types of acrylic products. The processing centres are located in the Netherlands and Poland. Heathland decided to start processing the production waste itself now that China has stopped accepting certain wastes since 2018. Today, Heathland is increasingly focusing on the post consumer PMMA waste stream. These are already used plastic materials, as opposed to the virgin (post-production) waste stream which consists of production waste. Great recycling potential In total, we produce 300,000 tonnes of PMMA waste in Europe every year. Until recently, all that waste was sent to the incinerator, as current recycling techniques and processes in Europe are not suitable for recycling end-of-life PMMA. However, PMMA is very recyclable, even better than other plastics. The properties of the recycled PMMA material are as qualitative as the raw material that would otherwise be used for a new product. The loss to recycle this waste is only 10 to 15%, so if one processes 100 kg, 85 to 90 kg are left to be reused as raw material. MMAtwo: international and innovative research project Since October 2018, Heathland has been initiator and coordinator of the MMAtwo project. This project fits into the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation. It is an innovative project developing a new process for recycling post-industrial, end-of-life and discarded PMMA waste. A total of 13 partners from six countries are participating. PMMA, or Polymethylmethacrylate is a transparent thermoplastic plastic better known by the trade names Perspex, Plexiglas, Altuglas and Oroglas, as well as acrylate for short. In full corona, this Plexiglas is widely used for screens of all kinds. But PMMA has many applications including car lights, illuminated advertising, sound walls, roof domes, balustrades, shop fittings, bus windows, insulated refrigeration doors in department stores, etc. From collection to processing It is estimated that only 30,000 tonnes of PMMA waste are currently collected for recycling annually in Europe, or only about 10% of annual production. This requires alerting the industry to bring in the discarded PMMA waste instead of sending it to the incinerator. The MMAtwo process consists of two stages. In the first stage, the PMMA post-consumer waste is pre-treated (= pre-treatment) to be further processed with a chemical process (depolymerisation). The pre-treatment of the material is a necessary and important step in the process. If the waste is not sufficiently pure and stable, the chemical process will not work either. In other words, the entire project stands or falls with the pre-treatment of the plastic waste. Different techniques in pre-treatment phase Pre-treatment of the waste consists of two lines, namely a clean (post-production) and a dirty (post-consumer) line. The dirty line contains more other materials, such as dust, films and paper, while the clean line mainly contains different types of plastic.