The core of the system used at Sysplast is a Leistritz extruder that was commissioned in 2021. The feed material is single-type regrind from the recycling of old electrical appliances and the processing of mixed post-industrial and post-consumer plastics. The majority of these plastics come from Energenta Recycling Solutions, which, like Sysplast, belongs to the Energenta group of companies. Sysplast currently has 14 employees, 11 in production, and produces approximately 40 t of recompounds per day, 70% of which are ABS, 20% PS and 10% PC/ABS; quantities that, according to managing director Ude Dobberke, are far short of covering demand.
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Even carefully selected input still contains some impurities in the form of metals, other plastics, silicones, paper, etc. Processing into sophisticated recompound qualities therefore requires filtration of the melt in order to reliably separate even the smallest contaminating particles. Dobberke: “The electronics industry, including telecommunications, consumer electronics and the automotive industry, only accepts products whose processing and performance characteristics are on a par with new products.” What is required of an optimal filter, therefore, is a high throughput with high filtration performance and reliable, continuous availability over long running times: “Screen blockages and filter changes bring fluctuations in production that we cannot afford. And because we produce recompounds for premium applications, the filter must reliably separate impurities with minimal melt loss.”
Given these demanding requirements, Sysplast opted for an Ettlinger self-cleaning ERF 350 high-performance filter. Dobberke confirms that screen replacements are rarely necessary with this model: “We typically run our system continuously in three shifts over five days a week with constant output.”
