Extrusion International 2-2021

20 Extrusion International 2/2021 INDUSTRY NEWS Guill Tool & Engineering www.guill.com „ Guill announces the introduction of a new version of its popular 800 series, known as 800 Series Hybrid. In some ex- trusion applications that utilize crossheads and inlines, layers of the exact same material are applied multiple times, using a single die. This method is used to reduce the propensity for errors caused by gels breaking through a thin wall, weld lines, inconsistent wall thickness, plus material and process variations. Additional errors include difficult-to-process ma- terials and demanding applications where there is zero fault tolerance. Seeking to design the next generation multi-layer die to overcome these challenges, the engineers at Guill looked for a way to incorporate this technology into an updated version of the 800 Series. This led to the creation of the 800 Series Hybrid. The inherent benefits of the 800 Series are retained, including compact design, low residence time and a common deflector bore that eliminates tolerance stack up. The chal- lenge was to create a hybrid design that incorporates the benefits of layer overlapping, while reducing unnecessary complexity and making the technology more cost-affordable for customers. This was achieved by overlapping layers in each semi-deflector, using a single cone. The highly efficient design of the 800 Series Hybrid reduces cost and size, as op- posed to other methods of overlapping layers. Essential benefits of the 800 Series Hybrid include eliminat- ing weld lines in materials through patented overlapping technology, producing a more consistent finished product; reduced sensitivity to changes in viscosity; reduced sensitivity to changes in line speed; myriad material and multi-layer appli- cation possibilities; works in all tubing and jacketing applica- tions with a wide range of ma- terials; low residence time; com- pact design and a low tolerance stack-up error factor, all resulting in improved concentricity. The 800 Series Hy- brid extrusion tool greatly reduces stagnation, be- cause overlapping layers are more in- herently balanced than single layers and also because each semi-deflector is “tuned to flush.” Conventional deflectors must simultaneously achieve a balance between flushing, balancing and eliminating the weld line. There is less differ- ence between the slowest moving material and the fastest moving material in the deflector channels, thus making the viscosity more consistent in the deflector. Independent Authority Certi fi es blueloop Laminate Tubes „ The Huhtamaki team, together with partners Plastuni Lisses, member of the Somater Group, and Zalesi, have de- veloped polyethylene (PE) based tubes that have been certi- fied as fully recyclable within the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) container stream by RecyClass, the cross-industry ini- tiative that works to advance plastic packaging recyclability and to establish a harmonized approach towards recycled content calculation and traceability in Europe. “The new recyclable blueloop laminates are a perfect exam- ple of effectively implementing sustainable design principles and contributing to the development of the circular econ- omy,” says Jens Pilzecker, Head of Global Tube Laminates at Huhtamaki’s Flexible Packaging segment. “With these laminate structures we help our customers take a big step forward in addressing their sustainability targets as they can now package products in fully recyclable high-barrier tubes. Huhtamäki OYJ www.huhtamaki.com New 800 Series Hybrid Extrusion Tooling Announced In addition, this innovation is in line with our target of de- signing 100% of our products to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030.” Availability of high-quality recycled material is still a major bottleneck in the transition to a circular economy and Huhta- maki Flexible Packaging is proud to offer these new fully re- cyclable laminate structures as part of the solution. According to the recycling analysis carried out by the Institut für Kunst- stofftechnologie und -recycling (IKTR), as per the RecyClass Recyclability Evaluation Protocol for HDPE containers, the re- cycled plastic generated in the mechanical recycling process can be used in high-value applications such as HDPE bottles.