Now, with the introduction of the HydroFiner, Pallmann is offering a new solution for removing labels from laminated plastic for paper packaging that will facilitate recycling in high volumes. The HydroFiner uses hydro-mechanical action to remove sticky cellulose-based laminate from packaging, yielding high quality clean material for further processing.
“We decided to develop the industrial equivalent of rather basic methods that are already used in developing countries, where large amounts of film waste are handled today,” says Rolf Gren, Senior Executive VP PALLMANN Group.
“There, the labels are often removed by vigorously brushing them off manually. We wanted to mimic this process—and obviously improve on it—in a machine.
“This is what we have in the HydroFiner. Here, a large amount of waste is intensively rubbed between two surfaces, together with a small amount of water. The material rubs mostly against itself, rather than the metal surfaces of the machine, the labels and the glue are separated and removed, and the packaging is reduced to flakes.”
The process, for which Pallmann has applied for a patent, is based on two discs - a rotor and a stator - with material being fed to the centre via an augur, and then moving to the outside through pairs of intermeshing teeth. The time the material is retained between the discs can be adjusted by changing the speed of the rotor and by adjusting the amount of water. The water is injected at three separate locations to provide increased precision, and is recycled back into the system after use. The HydroFiner is capable of throughputs of up to 1800 kg/hour of packaging waste.
