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EPE foam recycling - How to Recycle Expanded Polypropylene Foam

Is Expanded Polypropylene Foam Recyclable?

With the RUNI SK370 EPE compactor your EPE waste is efficiently turned from waste to value! With our compactor you will save money on storage and transportation of the waste and you will have the possibility of selling your compacted EPE waste for further EPE foam recycling.

What Is EPE Foam?

EPE is a material widely used for packaging goods. It is a harmless plastic with no taste or odor, is flexible and has great shock absorption skills, high thermal resistance and a high weight-to-strength ratio.

Even though EPE is highly recyclable and expanded polyethylene foam can be recycled multiple times, a lot of EPE still ends up in landfills or incinerators, which causes environmental issues.

EPE is available in different forms and densities. The RUNI SK370 can handle non-crosslinked EPE. For crosslinked EPE please reach out to us to make sure we can provide a solution.

How to Recycle EPE Foam with a RUNI Compactor:

Step 1: Collect the waste

The first step in EPE foam recycling is collecting the EPE waste. This can be done either by individuals separating their waste in a public waste management facility or by individual companies. The companies can either have their own RUNI SK370 for compacting the EPE, if their amount of EPE is big enough to justify the investment or they can send the collected EPE waste to a recycling company with a RUNI SK370.

Step 2: Compaction in the RUNI Screw press

The RUNI SK370 can be fed both manually and by conveyor belt. The material is fed into a hopper with an installed heavy-duty pre-crusher. The hopper is equipped with photo sensors for automatic start and stop of the machine. This means that the machine requires minimal handling while running and it is perfectly safe for your employees to operate.

After being fed into the hopper the EPE will go through the specially developed heavy-duty pre-crusher, which will cut the material into smaller pieces. These pieces will then by means of the screw and the automatic hydraulic jaws be compacted into solid blocks. Unlike many other machines for handling EPE foam, the RUNI SK370 does not melt the material. The SK370 compacts the EPE foam and only melts the surface of the compacted block, to ensure that it keeps the block form. This is necessary as EPE has a high memory and is prone to re-expand.

Step 3: Pack and ship the compacted EPE for further reycling

The compacted EPE exits the RUNI machine as stable blocks with a melted surface. With the RUNI block divider and crane, the handling and stacking of the blocks on a pallet is made very easy. After being processed in the RUNI SK370 the blocks of compacted EPE can be sold and transported to an expanded polyethylene foam recycling facility.

EPE Foam Recycling – Turn Waste into Value

With the RUNI SK370 for compacting EPE you can reach a density of EPE waste to of up to 600-750 kg/m3. When compacted into solid blocks the EPE waste is easy to handle,does not take up too much room for storage and is easy to transport.

The compacted blocks can be sold for recycling at an EPE foam recycling facility and thus you can turn your waste into value.

Learn How to Recycle Other Waste Materials

Do you have other types of waste, that you would like to recycle? Take a look at our other recycling guides:

Recycling of:

· EPS

· XPS

· EPP

Besides our machines for compacting, we also offer solutions for dewatering of various packaging:

· PET bottles

· Alu cans

· Tetra-Pak

If you need any further information, or do you have any questions about the RUNI machines, please fill out the form below. We will contact you as soon as possible.

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