How Granulators Contribute to Sustainability Initiatives
Cumberland partnered with Teel Plastics to capture previously lost regrind, increase their use of plastic scrap, and quantify data showing emissions saved from the environment.
CUSTOMER
Teel Plastics Inc. manufactures custom precision plastic tubing and profiles, offering a variety of services and products for health care, automotive, medical, and industrial sectors.
CHALLENGE
Through the use of Cumberland granulators, the company wanted to increase their reuse of plastic scrap and quantify the reduction of emissions and global warming potential (GWP) savings at their plant.
SOLUTION
Cumberland worked with Teel Plastics to convert from a central granulating room to beside-the-press granulators and identified GWP savings by calculating specific improvements that grinding and reusing plastic scrap has had on their operations.
RESULTS
Teel Plastics has captured up to 28,000 lbs. of previously lost regrind in their plant and mitigated up to 11,000 tons per year of CO2 equivalents for a single production line; this equates to the emissions from 2,195 passenger vehicles per year.
With sustainability a top priority, Cumberland and Teel Plastics set out to improve workflow operations by increasing the use of regrind and calculating the reduction of Global Warming potential (GWP) achieved through its grinding and reuse of plastic scrap. The net benefit of the process indicates a significant reduction of harmful CO2 released into the environment.
Sustainability is a term that is used extensively these days, especially in the plastics industry. Processors are under increased pressure to show stakeholders and customers how they are working to be environmentally responsible. Teel Plastics (Baraboo, WI), a leading extruder and injection molder, recently worked directly with Cumberland to quantify specific improvements that grinding and reusing plastic scrap has had on their operations.
“Sustainability is much more than a buzzword,” said Andre Adams, Senior Product Manager at Cumberland. “Companies in the plastics industry realize that their future success depends largely on being environmentally responsible and contributing to a circular economy.”
