Decoating technology - coating removal from plastic surfaces

 
"Coatings on plastic surfaces play a significant role to enhance substrate properties giving them color, gloss, chemical resistance, etc. There are various types of coatings which can be applied such as PVDC, metallic layers, acrylics, silicones etc. to just name some of them. The removal of coatings is key to enhance the recyclability of such materials at the end of a lifetime. Coatings as well as inks can impact the quality of the recyclate when they are not removed prior to the extrusion process. Decoating can be a viable solution to bring materials into high quality recycling again and to push circularity. Over the last months we further developed our KEYCYCLE deinking process to be also able to remove some coating types from plastic surfaces. The decoating technology can be uniquely used for any kind of polymer type, thickness as well as applied on flexible and rigid structures. After decoating the material can be reprocessed for new applications again. The decoating technology is an environmentally friendly process which detaches coatings from plastic surfaces. Main driver for decoating is the interaction of water-based chemicals and friction. The decoating process comprises of four main process steps including grinding, decoating (removal of coatings from surfaces), rinsing (removal of process chemicals and remaining coating particles), drying (removal of residual moisture of the plastic prior the extrusion process). The heart of the decoating process is the integrated water treatment system, which plays a key role in reusing the water and reducing the freshwater amounts by a closed-loop treatment. Physical treatment enables a low-cost option by reusing part of the process chemicals. To sum up, decoating technology can be a viable add-on to the recycling processes to increase the environmental and economic impact to existing industrial processes. "