EconCore chooses MEAF 50-H34 extruder for R-PET honeycomb sandwich panels

‘We want to bring a smart, innovative and sustainable productto marketthat contributes towards the circular economy of plastics,’ says Wouter Winant, Technical Manager at EconCore. ‘OurR-PET core offers high stiffness and strength in compression and shear, high temperature stability and has excellent weight to cost ratio. In additionto the CO2reduction because ofthe use of recycled material, the R-PET honeycomb core further reducestheCO2footprintthanks to the lower weight of manufactured parts. Of course this needs to be produced in acost-effective way, for which we have chosen the MEAF 50-H34 extruder, asan economical but highlyefficient flat die extruder at the start of the production process,’ Winant continues.

‘With their high throughputs, extruding up to 1,200 kg per hour while using only 0.20 kWh per kg, the sheet extruders of this series are currently among the most efficient in the market,’ addsArdjan Houtekamer, Technical Directorat MEAF. ‘Our extrusion lines are ideally suited for both single andmulti-layer extrusion applications and can produce up to eightlayers, using a range of materials including PP, PS, HIPS, PET, PE, PA, PLA, TPE, EVOH barrier and others.

’The MEAF H-series extruders have a special energy-efficient designin which all important parts have beenoptimized by the company’ sengineers. Thanks to theircompact build, the machines havea small footprint, making it ideal for production locations where space comes at a premium.

EconCore from Leuven (Louvain) in Belgium has chosen the high speed, energy efficient MEAF 50-H34 extruder for its trial production of recycled PET (R-PET) ThermHex honeycomb sandwich panels.

EconCore’s thermoplastic honeycomb technology allows for production of honeycomb panels within a continuous and in-line integrated process. During the successive production steps polymers are extruded, vacuum formed and folded into a honeycomb core. This results in a highly cost-effective process, ideally suited for large volume applications. Furthermore, lamination of skin layers is typically in-line integrated with the continuous honeycomb core production, allowing for one-shot production of added value sandwich panels orparts.

The EconCore process can produce bothregular flat panels as well asthermoformable ones. The lattertype obviously has a broader range of applications, since these panels can be pressedin any requiredformor shape. EconCore expectsthatthe developed process and R-PET products will mainly be offeredto the automotive industry, since car manufacturers are constantly looking for lightweight materials with specific temperature requirements,that can be produced in a cost-effective way. At the same time, the products fit well to other large volume applications, including furniture for instance.

Produced using a MEAF 50-H34 extruder, EconCore’s R-PET ThermHex honeycomb sandwich panels will be made of 95% recycled post-consumer PET from bottles, combining sustainability with the superior mechanical properties from PET-material.

About MEAF

Founded in 1947, MEAF designs, develops and builds extrusion machines for the global packaging and plastics processing industry. The company is a ‘one-stop-shop’for extrudersand thermoforming machinesfor a wide range of polymersand applications. MEAF’s success stems from a customer-centric, innovative and flexible approach, offering support in every stageof the production process. MEAF customers include manufacturers in the food packaging, disposables, medical applications and flooringsectors, as well as the automotive and aviation industry. For more information: https://www.meaf.com.

About EconCore

EconCore, based in Leuven, Belgium, provides technology for the continuous production of honeycomb sandwich materials. The unique ability to produce rigid but lightweight panels within a cost-efficient, integrated high-volume production process is licensed by several companies over the world. The fast, versatile, continuous thermoplastic honeycomb production process allows users to produce sandwich materials for various applications including automotive, transportation, building and construction, industrial packaging/graphical displays, furniture and many others at minimal cost, weight and environmental impact. For more information: www.econcore.com.

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