When Erema hosts Discovery Day, the company's headquarters becomes the meeting place for the biggest names in the plastics and recycling industry. This year, the customer event focused on the post consumer segment from a European perspective. Live demonstrations showcased the latest machine innovations for PET and polyolefin recycling. These produce recycled pellets of such high quality that they also meet the requirements for direct contact with food. The highlights included the opening of the newly built R&D Centre and a gala evening to celebrate the company's 40th anniversary.
There was plenty for the guests to admire at the Erema Discovery Day, which was held by plastics recycling machine manufacturer Erema in Ansfelden on the 1st of June. The invitation was accepted by around 400 customers and partners, mainly from Europe, to find out about the wide range of recycling technologies for PO and PET plastic waste. The technology that was presented and explained by Erema experts and guest speakers during lectures in the morning, could then be seen live in-action in the afternoon when the recycling machines were demonstrated in operation. A total of six innovative recycling technologies were on display: Intarema TVEplus DuaFil Compact, Intarema TVEplus RegrindPro + ReFresher, the Corema cascade extrusion system, a Vacurema Inline Sheet line equipped with new EcoGentle technology, the new Intarema FibrePro:IV machine, and the PCU-TwinScrew. These allowed visitors to witness their performance and the high quality of recycled pellets that they produce. "This wide range of technologies is necessary because the recycling process each of our customers choose depends on the type of plastic, the level of contamination of the input material, and which product will be made using the recycled pellets. Following the expansion of our Ansfelden site and with the new site nearby in St. Marien, we can now demonstrate all these processes, carry out test runs with customers' material and focus on development work independently of our Customer Centre," says Erema's Managing Director Markus Huber-Lindinger.
Erema is driving forward research and development work in the company's new R&D Centre. Two halls with a total area of 1,550 square metres and a new office building offering space for 50 workplaces has been built. Here, the company bundles cross-departmental test machines and laboratory facilities for post consumer and inhouse recycling applications. R&D is decentralised at Erema. Employees from different departments handle process engineering challenges, innovations in mechanical engineering and automation technology - all with the aim of meeting customer requirements and achieving the highest possible quality of recycled pellets. "This is how we make it possible to implement a circular economy for plastics", says Huber-Lindinger. "With the new R&D centre, we have laid the foundation for further important plastics recycling milestones from Erema. This innovative strength is what has made us stand out over the past 40 years, and we will continue to play this pioneering role."
On the evening before Discovery Day, Erema celebrated its 40th anniversary together with customers and partners. An entertaining review covered the company's successful history - from the first workshop in a garage in 1983, to its position today as the innovation pioneer and world market leader that has made plastics recycling for specific applications possible in the first place.
