Recycling to reduce pollution and waste volumes going to landfill has long been a key element of waste management. Increasingly, however, it is a crucial sector for the modern circular economy and the protection of the planet. Tony dos Santos of Bonfiglioli South Africa outlines the company’s global capability.
Click to download and read pdf.
“Globally, we have been active in the recycling industry for the past decade and, thanks to numerous product developments and expansions, we have established a solid reputation in this sector,” says Tony dos Santos, Bonfiglioli SA’s MD.
“We offer a complete range of solutions to meet any need in this rugged and demanding market. Recycling solutions have to be developed with the highest levels of customisation in mind, which requires, right from the initial design, in-depth interaction between our customers and our Bonfiglioli design teams. This ensures that all the required specifications and variants are known so that the end product can be perfectly matched to expectations,” he says.
“This is why our pre-sales and after-sales teams – spread strategically across all continents – play such a crucial role, and why delivering complete support is at the heart of our global success. The product range and its proven reliability are only the starting points of a profitable relationship,” he adds.
Bonfiglioli’s custom solutions for recycling plants cover the complete range of applications from shredding machines to conveyors and compactors. “From the inverters to the motors, gearboxes and geared motors, we have Bonfiglioli components that can be selected, customised and used in machine designs that meet the needs of whole recycling systems. We have successes in many different kinds of waste recycling, including rubber tyres, metals, paper and plastic, always with a focus on application-driven customisation,” he adds.
Key Bonfiglioli products for recycling systems
Primary shredding, which is used to ‘pre-chop’ the waste material to a size appropriate for storage, transport or downstream processing, is at the starting point of many recycling plants. Bonfiglioli planetary products are a key feature of shredding equipment, delivering the high torque performance required.
The R3 Series planetary range is purpose built for the recycling sector and particularly well suited to primary shredding machines in recycling plants. Compact and powerful, R3 planetary gear trains are the ideal choice for severe duty applications where shock loads and impacts are more the rule than the exception.
The R3 also offers several mounting options for flexible configuration with respect to the gear layout, the output shaft and the motor interface. Depending on the torque needed, the R3 Series can be equipped with a hydraulic motor adapter, while an electric motor adapter is available on request.
Secondary shredding, while not always necessary, is used if further size reduction is required to suit the needs downstream. If, for example, the waste must be sorted into different material types, then a secondary shred-size may be required to allow separation of the different materials in the waste. “For some materials, secondary shredder torque can be over 2.0 kNm. Thanks to a high peak load capacity, planetary gears such as the Bonfiglioli 300M series offer best-in-class mechanical performance, and Bonfiglioli is one of the few OEMs that can guarantee these levels of torque for a complete range of shredding machine applications.
Conveying systems are a third cornerstone of most recycling systems. Bonfiglioli offers products such as the parallel shaft F-Series and the helical bevel A-Series drives for a variety of conveying systems. High dynamic response and energy efficiency are signature features, and these are cost-effective with extended service intervals for low costs of ownership.
Waste material recovery solutions will often have compactors at the end of their process, which typically use drives from Bonfiglioli’s C-Series helical range, which can accommodate a broad range of compactor requirements.
The compact C Series geared motor features a wide output torque range and an extremely wide range of gear ratios, which are achieved through 2-, 3- or 4-stage versions. The C Series can be coupled with Bonfiglioli electric motors, which are known to achieve first-rate reliability, efficiency and robustness.
This allows customers to adapt the C Series to match the torque and output speed requirements of any compacting application.
Components for stand-alone recycling machines
While the recycling process can be carried out through large and complex plants, compact stand-alone machines are also common. These machines are used for small loads, such as a single product returned for recycling.
Bonfiglioli designs and produces custom solutions for reverse vending machines that, for example, typically process one recycled plastic bottle/can at a time. But the machine has to have high reliability and a long operating life. These are typically stand-alone shredders that consist of FEF drives that deliver the expected reliability and longevity.
“We believe product development relies on passion, efficient processes and the ability to understand customers’ needs. After an in-depth analysis, our design teams will first identify these company needs. Then, through dedicated calculation tools, the team is able to simulate recycling machine capability and the associated transmission performance, which allows the total development time to be significantly reduced.
“Ultimately, this development approach allows the design proposal to be adapted and optimised to best suit key factors such as performance, installation limitations and maintenance,” Dos Santos concludes.
www.bonfiglioli.com/south_africa/en
