High-quality composite components made from low-value wastes

Thermoplastic compression molding enables the efficient recycling and optimal use of industrial plastic waste

Whether before, during or after production, waste is generated in industrial companies in large quantities and from various sources in the product life cycle.

Offcuts, rejects and rejected products end up in landfills, where they are usually incinerated because recycling this coarse, inhomogeneous or mixed waste is time-consuming and expensive.

For this purpose, CrossTEQ has developed an unconventional process that allows industrial companies to recover added value from their plastic and composite waste in an economical and ecological way. 

Different waste streams, different challenges

Along the product life cycle of a plastic part, waste is generated from various sources in an industrial plant:

• Waste before production (offcuts) 
  
• Waste after production (rejects, faulty parts) 
  
• Waste at the end of the life cycle (product itself) 
  

Where low demands are placed on the raw material, established processes exist today (e.g. PET bottles).

However, the later the waste arises in the life cycle, the more difficult it is to bring it back into a usable form. The corresponding recycling processes to restore the original properties of the materials (e.g. grade purity, good flow behavior, homogeneity or pourability) are complex and correspondingly expensive. 

One recycling process for all waste 

CrossTEQ has developed a unique, end-contour accurate thermoset-based compression molding process that bypasses these costly processes and also opens up versatile possibilities for upgrading any waste stream in the industrial production process.

With A-Comp, industrial companies can:

• Return own plastic and composite recyclates to (own) use,
  
• Making optimum use of waste streams in the product life cycle
  
• Bypass costly recycling processes and thus save costs,
  
• Avoid thermal processing in recycling and thus reduce your own CO2 footprint,
  
• Increase the use of bio-based reinforcing or filling materials in new products,
  
• and reduce the proportion of virgin plastics in products.
  

A-Comp: High-quality composite components made from various industrial wastes

With A-Comp Compression Molding, CrossTEQ economically processes coarse, inhomogeneous or mixed plastic compounds into geometrically complex products.

With appropriately designed compression molds and material-specific pressure and temperature sequences, CrossTEQ produces high-quality composite products for diverse applications.

In this process, the plastic or composite recyclate together with a reinforcing plastic is introduced over a large area into the open cavity in a cold state and melted over a specific pressure and temperature curve and pressed to form the finished component.

A-Comp Recycling: Applications