Introduction
At Cumberland, we take pride in our longstanding partnership with KW Plastics, the world’s largest recycler. Over the past 30 years, we have worked together to pioneer a revolutionary recycling solution that drives sustainability and profitability. Our heavy-duty granulators have been instrumental in helping KW Plastics achieve impressive throughput rates and reinforce the environmental benefits of a circular economy.
Pioneering a Recycling Solution
As pioneers in plastics recycling, KW Plastics has relied on the experts at Cumberland to help develop successful methods to grind and reprocess high volumes of polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). These materials, sourced from curbside recycling products such as beverage containers and laundry detergent bottles, are effectively processed into reusable resins using our 62B Series Heavy Duty Granulators. This process has significantly reduced the global warming potential (GWP) compared to manufacturing virgin resins.
Scott Saunders, General Manager at KW Plastics, highlights the importance of our role in enhancing their recycling process: “Post-consumer plastics have a lot of dirt and contaminants in the material. With Cumberland’s help, we pioneered wet granulation, which enhanced the process to help us successfully recycle high volumes of materials.”
Achieving Impressive Results
Our partnership with KW Plastics has resulted in notable achievements:
- Billions of pounds processed across 7-8 material streams.
- Processing up to 500 million pounds per year (PPY).
- Maximizing pounds per hour (PPH) throughput for each processing line.
- Maintaining granulator reliability in extremely challenging conditions.
“Cumberland has been a true partner in helping us build our recycling business to where we are today,” Saunders emphasizes. “We started out just trying to show that recycling plastics was a viable business. Once we perfected the process, we set out to expand, and Cumberland has been with us every step of the way.”
Expanding and Innovating
KW Plastics began as a recycler but soon expanded into producing and selling recycled resin pellets to the plastics industry. Starting with PP recycled resins from automotive battery casings, KW Plastics later moved into producing resins from recycled HDPE containers. In 1998, KW Plastics entered the packaging industry with a hybrid one-gallon paint can made of recycled materials, establishing KW Container. This move completed the circular nature of their recycling efforts.
In 2016, KW Container introduced TruSnap™ – a resealable paint can made from exclusively recycled plastic and proprietary resin. Over 100 million pounds of recycled material are used annually to produce these paint containers, with our granulators supporting the production of over 1 million paint cans per week.
Promoting Environmental Benefits
To further KW Plastics’ mission of promoting the benefits of recycling, we developed a method to estimate the reduction of global warming potential (GWP) achieved through recycling versus manufacturing virgin resins. The analysis showed a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, equating to the elimination of emissions from 15,000 passenger vehicles per year for a single production line.
Andre Adams, Senior Product Manager at Cumberland, explains, “KW Plastics already knew that the process of recycling plastics was better for the environment than producing virgin resins. This analysis showed their reduction in GWP was even greater than anticipated. Recycling plastics truly supports circular economy initiatives.”
Conclusion
As the world’s brand leader in size reduction equipment since 1939, Cumberland continues to provide rugged, reliable, and dependable granulators and shredders. Our long-standing partnership with KW Plastics has not only helped them achieve significant milestones in recycling but also contributed to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly process. By pioneering innovative recycling solutions, KW Plastics and Cumberland are making substantial strides in promoting the circular economy.
For more information or case studies: Cumberland Plastics Resources – Helpful Info On Size Reduction Equipment | Cumberland