PURUS from Germany demonstrates how post-consumer PE-PP mixtures can be transformed into high-quality regranulates for durable products such as ECOgreen®, a robust solution for green roofs and rainwater management.
When it comes to quality-focused plastics recycling, PURUS PLASTICS is considered one of the industry's pioneers. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Arzberg, Germany, the company has been successfully working with EREMA since 2001 – nearly a quarter of a century.
Today, PURUS is both an innovative recycling company and a leading provider of sustainable plastic solutions. The foundation of its success lies in the continuous advancement of recycling processes and the production of high-performance products made from post-consumer plastics.
A key component of this success is the INTAREMA® 1714 TVEplus® from EREMA, which PURUS has been operating in Arzberg for several years. This state-of-the-art recycling system enables PURUS to process different polyolefins efficiently and flexibly, producing high-quality regranulates.
Can PP and PE be recycled together?
In the plastics industry, the joint processing of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) is often considered a challenge. At the same time, precisely these mixed fractions are commonly found in many collection and waste streams.
As a result, the high-quality recycling of PE-PP mixtures is becoming increasingly important. With the right recycling technology, these materials can be successfully processed into regranulates suitable even for demanding applications.
This is exactly where EREMA’s INTAREMA® TVEplus® technology comes into play. Thanks to its high process stability and flexibility in processing various polyolefin streams, it provides the conditions required for consistently high regranulate quality, even when handling challenging post-consumer materials.
The INTAREMA® 1714 TVEplus® installed at PURUS is particularly versatile. Thanks to its multipurpose screw, LDPE, LLDPE, and HDPE as well as various PE-PP mixtures can be processed reliably.
More information on the INTAREMA® TVEplus® recycling machine
A particularly successful example of what can be achieved with recycled PE-PP materials is the ECOgreen® system from PURUS. The solution was developed for modern solar green roof concepts and combines sustainable rainwater management, green roofing, and photovoltaics in an integrated system. It is based on high-quality regranulate produced through the recycling process.
The material properties published on the PURUS website demonstrate the level of performance that can be achieved with modern PE-PP recycling:
• Dimensionally stable at temperatures ranging from -50 °C to +90 °C
• Resistant to acids, alkalis, alcohol, as well as oil and petrol
• UV- and weather-resistant
• Tested according to DIN EN ISO 4892-2 and DIN EN 60068-2-5
• Recycled and recyclable
• Environmentally neutral according to OECD 202:2004
Further technical information on the ECOgreen® system and its material properties can be found on the PURUS website.
This clearly demonstrates that PE-PP regranulate is by no means limited to low-demand applications. On the contrary, it can be used to manufacture durable, robust, and environmentally valuable products that meet the requirements of modern infrastructure projects.
At the heart of the system operated by PURUS is the INTAREMA® TVEplus® technology with the Counter Current® system. It ensures improved material intake, high process stability, and flexible processing of different polyolefin streams.
A key advantage of the TVEplus® process is the positioning of melt filtration upstream of extruder degassing. Due to the low shear impact during melting, contaminants are not further fragmented and can therefore be removed particularly efficiently by the filtration system. At the same time, unwanted components are removed from the process at an early stage before they can outgas. This helps reduce potential odour formation and contributes to high regranulate quality.
For filtration, PURUS uses an EREMA Laserfilter 2/406, which reliably removes contaminants from the material stream. Combined with melt homogenization in the “Plus Zone” and high-performance triple degassing within a single process step, the result is a quality regranulate with consistent properties – ideal for durable plastic products.
In addition to the ECOgreen® product range, PURUS develops and manufactures a variety of other solutions made from recycled plastics. These include the ECORASTER® ground reinforcement grid system. Made from recycled LDPE (rLDPE), these durable ground grids are used in parking areas, access roads, equestrian facilities, logistics sites, and municipal projects.
The regranulate used for these products is also produced using EREMA’s flexible INTAREMA® TVEplus® recycling technology, highlighting both the versatility of the technology and the performance potential of post-consumer plastics.
