Sulzer's Sustainable Plastic Processing Solutions At Interplastica 2020

At Interplastica 2020 Sulzer Chemtech will highlight how its latest technologies provide key solutions to enable a circular economy of plastic. By offering innovative and proven methods to process plastic from renewable resources and recover polymers and monomers, Sulzer is helping businesses adopt more sustainable practices.

Interplastica 2020, one of the largest trade shows on plastic and rubber in Russia, is expected to host 680 exhibitors from all over the world, making this year’s event the largest ever. Recycling solutions and other innovative systems aimed at reducing the environmental impact of plastic will be the main focus of the fair.

The show offers an ideal platform for Sulzer, the leader in separation and mixing technology, to showcase its expertise and commitment in developing innovative technologies for a sustainable plastic manufacturing sector. These solutions address the entire value chain, from raw material selection to end-of-life activities.

Anyone interested in using bio-based, bio-compostable and 100% recyclable plastic materials will have the opportunity to learn about how Sulzer supports the production of polylactic acid (PLA)-based plastic from renewable sources such as sugar cane, sugar beet, wheat or maize crops. Businesses can benefit from the company’s state-of-the-art separation units to purify lactide and PLA as well as Sulzer Mixing Reactors (SMR) for high-quality and efficient polymerization. Thanks to the PLAnet alliance between Sulzer and its partners Futerro and TechnipFMC, customers can take advantage of a one-stop-shop for the creation and implementation of integrated sugar-to-PLA solutions.

Sulzer’s downstream technology for PLA and other polymers, such as polystyrene, polyester and polypropylene will also be on display. These include the company’s highly efficient foam extrusion lines for the production of expanded polystyrene (EPS) and expanded polypropylene (EPP) of low-density, expanding or expanded foam sheets and boards of various shapes. A key example on stage will be the compact aixfotec twin-screw extruder. The design of this system helps manufacturers to move towards continuous processing, which tends to be highly sustainable. The equipment does not need to go through cycles of heating and cooling, thus energy consumption is significantly reduced.

Sulzer will also present its solutions to move away from virgin plastic. Recycling businesses will be able to learn about the company’s advanced devolatilization (“devo”) technology for solvent-based recycling of plastics and selective polymer extraction. The system combines multi-tube heat exchangers featuring static mixing elements with vacuum flash vessels to deliver high-quality recycled polymers with residual solvent contents in the order of ppm. In this way, Sulzer can support the recovery of plastic that is currently non-recyclable. Visitors will also be able to look at examples of bespoke, turnkey solutions and plants for the plastic processing industry in real life 1:1 scale, via interactive virtual reality and augmented reality apps.

Visit Sulzer Chemtech on stand 23D28, Hall 2 at Interplastica 2020. January 28-31, 2020 – Expocentre, Moscow, Russia.