Aluminium and polymer

Aluminium and polymer recovered from the repulping process can be recycled in a variety of ways:

• In Italy the polymer and aluminium are used for the production of a new plastic material, Ecoallene® *. This is a practical and resistant material, supplied in granules and ready to be used in several applications of plastic moulding industries. Read more at www.ecoallene.com
• In Spain the company Stora Enso is using a pyrolysis technology in order to produce high quality aluminium, oil and gas. The mixture of polymers and aluminium is fed into a rotating kiln where the material is heated in an inert environment to avoid combustion of polymer. The output of this process consist of aluminium brickets and pyrolytic gases from the polymer.
• In China a chemical treatment technology has been developed to separate the polymer and the aluminium. The mixture is put into a reaction tank which reduces the adhesion between the different layer and the materials can then be mechanically separated and used for new products.
• In Brazil, we have patented equipment to clean the polymer and aluminium from the paper recycling process. This equipment allows for higher efficiency in fibre recovery, and at same time better quality granulates for injection moulding. The combined properties of polymers and aluminium allow for the production of compressed boards for low-cost housing materials.