Recycling

Bulky items are costly to store and transport, so in the simplistic of terms, shredding can reduce the volume of the materials so that it is easier, cheaper and more environmentally efficient to take them from A to B for recycling.

Sometimes many diverse recyclates are contained- locked- within a specific product type. Numerous items of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEE) for example, contain everything from copper to plastic and even gold! Shredding to liberate all of these multifaceted component parts, means separation technology can then do its job far more effectively.

Once shredded, the recyclate fraction may then be reinserted back into the same supply chain it first cme from, for a closed loop model in the truest sense. Or, it may be remanufactured into an entirely different product- just look at how football shirts can now be made from salvaged plastic bottles! Either way, some resource value of the material is retained, which of course what the waste hierarchy is striving to achieve.

Depending on specific onward recycling process, particle homogeneity may be key to optimal resource recovery. Whether metals are smelted or plastics are to be pelletised for remanufacture, for instance, many clients approached us because an output specification is driving their shredder investment. With thousands of cutter and screen configurations requirements, UNTHA shredders can achieve numerous consistent sizing requirements, ranging to 12 to 400mm.

Resource compliance is influenced by legislation as well as the waste hierarchy. WEE must be processed by an authorised specialist at an ATF for example, and 'dirty plastics' can no longer be shipped to China. But ongoing regulatory change constantly drives further shredding too. GDPR brought security shredding to the fore for a number of businesses in 2018 for instance, e.g retailers now have shred their mail order returns packaging to protect customers' personal data before it can be recycled. There is an environmental and a compliance box to tick.