Mr. Lackner, what developments are there in plastics recycling?
Michael Lackner: In recent years, we have noticed a trend in the market towards consolidation among our customers. Small recyclers are being taken over and integrated into larger corporate groups. This has had – and is still having – a serious impact on our product range and product and system policy. Larger groups are buying fewer single units and are tending towards systems, increasingly asking for complete solutions, with system boundaries becoming ever broader. This means that sorting processes, washing processes and extrusion processes need to be more closely interlinked. The aim is to be able to cover the process from input to finished recycled pellets with a guaranteed throughput and quality. In view of the high energy costs, process optimisation and improvements in energy efficiency have also become extremely important.
What role do cooperations play in this regard?
Lackner: At Lindner, we are very good at representing the front end of the recycling process chain. In other words, all the shredding and sorting processes and, of course, washing: that's our specialisation. However, as customers are increasingly seeking complete solutions, we looked for a cooperation partner in extrusion and found the right one in EREMA. Together we can cover everything from the first to last step and provide consistent quality under optimised process conditions. We have founded a joint company for this purpose: BlueOne Solutions, with Lindner and EREMA each owning a 50 percent share in the company.
How important are standards in recycling?
Lackner: Standards are becoming increasingly important. Of course, there are legal regulations and standards, but there are also a number of initiatives from various customers. Take the field of Cosmetic Packaging Toxicology, also abbreviated to CosPa Tox, for example, which sets standards for high-quality post-consumer recyclates, so that they can be used again in the cosmetics sector. Standards were not that important as long as post-consumer recyclates were only being used in low-grade, simple applications. However, we are now shifting towards much higher-value applications with our technology. Today, we are pursuing the goal of equal or upward recycling and also aim to use recyclates in the food and cosmetics industries. This requires quality standards – standards that are often much stricter than the legal requirements. Many branded goods manufacturers such as Unilever or Procter & Gamble have defined their own quality requirements, also to ensure the safe use of post-consumer recyclates. In short, it is important that standards continue to be driven forward in order to use recyclates in equivalent or higher quality applications, enabling the realisation and guarantee of the required qualities and their guarantee.
So, at the end of the day, recyclates will be equipped with data sheets as if they were new materials, enabling customers to place tailored orders?
Lackner: That's exactly what it has to come down to, otherwise, we will not be able to achieve the high-quality use of recycled materials; we need this guarantee. Additionally, we need to have the entire process chain under control, otherwise, the question will always arise as to who is responsible if it doesn't work in the end. The guarantee also gives our customers in the recycling industry the certainty that they can also use their complete systems for these demanding business areas.
How important is chemical recycling for Lindner?
Lackner: There have been many initiatives in the direction of chemical recycling for several years now. It is often completely new players, such as the petrochemical industry, that enter the recycling market via this route. Initially, it was thought that you could simply put everything into the chemical recycling process and end up with a perfect product. It has since become clear that waste also needs to be processed to be chemically recycled. For Lindner, this means that our pre-sorting processes are well suited to preparing the material for chemical recycling.
Chemical recycling will usefully complement mechanical recycling. Many material streams that are extracted from waste can be recycled mechanically in a very cost- and energy-efficient manner. However, there are material streams that we are not yet able to recycle mechanically, or not yet so well at present. Chemical recycling processes are the right technology for this purpose – however, I also believe that we are still a long way from reaching the end in terms of quality in mechanical recycling. One of our innovation projects deals with new cleaning processes and the aim of raising the quality to a new level.
What innovations is Lindner planning to show at K?
Lackner: At K, we will be showing the results of our process optimisation as a consequence of our cooperation with EREMA We will present concrete customer benefits there. In the shredding sector, we will be presenting innovations related to energy efficiency, ease of maintenance and material flexibility.
