Simon Gilchrist
The cartridge recycler has begun using a Bunting mangetic drum in its new recycling line.
Hub-4 reported on the installation of a Bunting magnetic drum at BCMY’s plant in Lansing, West Sussex, with Bunting a designer and manufacturer of separation technology including “magnetic separation, metal detection and eddy current separation”. The drum and the line were installed in order to extend BCMY’s “ability to efficiently and effectively manage old laser toner cartridges”.
Noting that many cartridges are not recycled – only 15 percent of 250 million inkjet cartridges and 25 percent of 40 million toner cartridges in Western Europe according to the news outlet – BCMY added that it “makes a decision on whether [a cartridge] can be reused or if it needs to be recycled”, with around 62 percent “reused and saved” despite 15 percent of the cartridges it processes being compatibles “from the Far East” and 20 percent remanufactured cartridges.
The site points out that “there remains a high global demand for specific virgin empty cartridges”, and that “the overall percentage of cartridges collected that can be reused is falling”, with disposal options “more limited with the introduction of tighter waste legislation and a reduction in industry capacity to deal with” cartridges.
BCMY designed and built a “prototype facility” to physically recycle non-reusable cartridges, with a capacity of 2,000 units per day, and the cartridges are shredded, the dust removed and the magnetic drum separating all the magnetic materials from the plastic. The drum was supplied “in a housing with a direct shaft-mounted drive”, with the 42 percent of metal in each cartridge “then sold as an end product”.
Simon Gilchrist, Managing Director of BCMY, stated that the company “undertook a great deal of research” before choosing the Bunting drum, adding: “Bunting was a local company and we were able to visit their facility to witness testing on our material. We really appreciated Carlton’s advice [Carlton Hicks, UK Sales Manager] and the testing meant that the separation Bunting claimed was possible was 100 percent proven, and we could purchase with confidence.
“We wanted to work with a UK manufacturer so that the equipment would be UK-built and not purchased through a reseller or an importer. The installation has been very successful and we have further plans to expand the facility next year. We are currently trailing further Bunting Magnetics equipment: a cross belt/overband magnet to automate removal of larger ferrous materials from the line in order to reduce the wear on the primary shredder; and an in-line pneumatic metal detector to further improve the separation and reduce metal contamination of the plastic output.”