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The attributes that have made plastic so popular — its durability, light weight, flexibility, and impermeability — are also its downfall when it becomes waste, according to Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chief Scientific Officer of Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co. “Plastic floats — it does not decompose, it does not dissolve,” he told the German plastics and rubber association VDMA recently. If recyclability had been taken into account from the beginning of the product development process in addition to cost and functionality, at least 80% of plastics would be recyclable today, he said. Instead, an emphasis on functional optimization has produced plastics, such as multi-layer films, that are difficult or impossible to recycle. “I am convinced that we can and must change this,” stressed Reifenhäuser in the VDMA interview. It’s a message that the Reifenhäuser Group, a plastics extrusion technology specialist based in Troisdorf, Germany, will amplify at K 2022 under the theme, “The Time Is Now.” The company gave a preview of the innovations it will be highlighting at the show in October during a press preview in June in Düsseldorf.

Reifenhäuser has three booths of its own at the K, and is also part of an open-air pavilion as a partner in the R-Cycle initiative, which has developed a traceability standard for sustainable plastic packaging. The R-Cycle’s Digital Product Passport will be the topic of a forthcoming article in PlasticsToday.

At the main booth (C 22) in hall 17, the company’s blown film, cast sheet coating, and Reicofil businesses will be showcased. The emphasis will be on the economical manufacture of fully recyclable products, the processing of recyclates, and how a fully networked system can increase output.

In particular, the cast sheet coating division will demonstrate a patent pending process, called Ultrathin Coating, for cost-effective film and nonwoven composites. The process reportedly can reduce film grammage by 66%, material consumption by 28%, and cost by as much as 34% compared with conventional semi-finished products.

Ultrathin Coating notably has attracted interest from makers of medical protective clothing. “We are currently experiencing a sustained increase in demand for medical protective clothing combined with a return strategy for local production capacity,” said Mark Borutta of Reifenhäuser Cast Sheet Coating. Producers achieve a rapid return on investment by adopting this process, he added, even when production is based in Europe. Whether manufacturers handle the coating process internally or choose to import the composites, the return on investment is typically less than 12 months, according to the company.

The technology will be showcased at the main Reifenhauser booth, C22, in hall 17.

Other technologies that Reifenhauser will be presenting at K 2022 include:

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