Tackle the Toughest Regrind Challenges with Cumberland Beside-the-Press Granulators

By grinding left over components down to a size that is similar to virgin resin, manufacturers can reclaim more material, drastically decrease waste, and reduce manufacturing costs. Regardless of the size of an operation or type of manufacturing process, regrinding of plastic components has the potential to reduce overall resin usage, save money, and promote sustainability.

Material loss is an issue every plastics manufacturer must address. One Cumberland customer started tracking and analyzing their regrinding process and found that 20,000 to 30,000 pounds of regrind materials were being lost in the grinding process each year. This was due to a central granulator workflow that was too complex, inefficient, and labor-intensive. The Cumberland team arrived on the scene and was able to assess the problem, recommend a solution, and install the correct components for their operation. Using a new workflow and a new BTP FX Series granulator from Cumberland, this company was able to reduce lost material to just 2,000 pounds per year via increased regrind efficiency.

Reducing material waste is important for plastic processors, and a big reason is cost. Losing too much raw material is expensive, so reducing the amount of lost resin becomes imperative to minimizing overhead. The customer that switched to a BTP FX Series granulator ended up saving approximately $300,000 in material costs per year, a significant savings for that company. Considering the annual savings processors could be experiencing with their size reduction equipment, it’s important that the right BTP granulator is chosen based on a manufacturer’s unique plastic processing operation, type of materials, and amount of floor space.    

Too much plastic waste being produced can also impede a facility from meetings its sustainability goals. Grinding and reusing scrap plastics with size reduction equipment can help plastics companies significantly mitigate their Global Warming Potential (GWP) impact and become more environmentally responsible. After switching to the BTP FX Series granulator, Cumberland’s customer decided to conduct extensive research to see if their company was meeting sustainability goals. Key data showed that on average, on a single production line, the company mitigated CO² eq. potential by up to 11,000 tons per year by using regrind back into their process. This is the equivalent of avoiding the emissions from over 2,100 passenger vehicles per year.     

No matter what type of process is the mainstay of a plastics manufacturing operation – injection molding, thermoforming, extrusion – BTP granulators are always an excellent choice of size reduction equipment to help manufacturers reduce resin usage, save money, and promote sustainability.

Processors who would like to learn more about BTP granulators from Cumberland can contact us today to start a conversation with our team of experts.