Sorticanter

Recycling

Recycling preserves the environment and resources! To be more precise: Collecting and recovering of plastics reduces waste, results in lower costs for disposal and converts used plastics in new materials. The Flottweg Sorticanter® helps to close this circuit according to the principles of ecology and economy.

Residues become resources

When recycling light-weight packaging, plastic fibers, and plastic waste from industrial production for reuse or combustion, sorting efficiency of the recycled materials is crucial. Since many plastics differ in their density, sorting by means of a sink or swim procedure is an efficient separation procedure. The easiest method is static separation in a tank. For this purpose, a separation liquid is chosen that has a specific weight which lies between the specific weights of the plastics to be separated. As a consequence, the lighter material concentrates at the surface whereas the heavier material settles to the bottom.

Static separation in a tank is driven by gravity, at a force of one g. In contrast to this procedure, separation is much faster when replacing gravity by centrifugal force. That means that sorting with the help of a centrifuge is much quicker and the sorted plastic fractions are much dryer than when separating by gravity. Air bubbles and other surface effects do not influence separation, which also allows for washing dust away from the surface of the plastics.

The FLOTTWEG SORTICANTER® - advantages in comparison to other processes

• Use of standard components
• Closed design that reduces odor emissions
• Better product quality and therefore a higher value of the final product
• Minimal manpower requirements
• Operating times of more than 8000 hours per year are common
• Separation of substances which cannot be separated via static separation (fibers)
• No mechanical dryers (screen centrifuges) necessary
• Particles may be smaller than 1 mm
• No air bubbles or other effects interfere with separation
• Limited consumption of fresh water
• Minimal waste water production

FLOTTWEG – Your competent Partner

Flottweg was present during the beginning of large-scale plastic recycling in Germany in the 1990s. Since this date we have been delivering complete systems for wet-mechanical sorting and washing of plastic mixtures. You will profit from our experience and knowledge during engineering design, the selection of components, or the specification of measurement and control systems.

References

In Germany FLOTTWEG SYSTEMS are in operation:

• For recycling films and DSD1)- mixed plastics
• For recycling technical plastics
• For recycling cable insulations

Additional systems have been delivered to the UK and to China. In Japan, many FLOTTWEG SORTICANTERS® for mixed plastics treatment have been in permanent operation for years.