Interzero site Eisenhüttenstadt celebrating its 30th anniversary
How we are helping to create a world without waste
Our recycling plants turn plastic waste into high-quality granulate, which directly replaces virgin plastic. Around 5% of the world’s oil production is used to manufacture plastic. So every gram that we put back into the loop saves raw materials and ultimately CO2. We currently recycle 37,000 tonnes of plastic waste in Eisenhüttenstadt each year.
What makes Eisenhüttenstadt special?
The plant was the first to make hefty investments in in-house material testing and inspected all outgoing materials in its own laboratory before sending them to customers. Today, this has become the industry standard and is another factor upholding the site’s especially good reputation. Technology enthusiasts might be interested to learn that Eisenhüttenstadt invested in extrusion in 2018 with the procurement of the COREMA extruder. The unit is the first of its kind in terms of size and design. The material is kneaded in the co-rotating screws and with a gravimetric dosing system, additives can be precisely dosed according to the customer’s wishes.
Changes over the past 30 years
In the early 1990s, PE was the dominant fraction (around 80% PE and 20% PP). Today, it’s the exact opposite: roughly 80-85% PP and 15-20% PE.
Employees at the site
Nowadays, the plant is operated by 95 employees working four shifts, with 14 colleagues handling administrative tasks. The Eisenhüttenstadt facility has lots of employees with many years of service. We want to congratulate Valerian Baranow, Andreas Franke, Petra Genz, Uwe Genz, Gabriele Jakob, Kai-Uwe Melzer, Per Rehfeld, Ramona Siemund, Birgit Urbanek and Uwe Wendler on 30 years with our company.
What’s next for the plant?
Interzero is investing millions of euros in increasing capacity in Eisenhüttenstadt. The new processing line 4 is planned for 2024. Sorting centrifuges will be the key technical components. A new sorting area is also being created with two new shredders, metal extraction and air separation systems and enclosed conveying technology.Eisenhüttenstadt will recycle 60,000 tonnes of plastic waste once sorting area 4 is up and running. None of our competitors have used this technology to handle such large tonnages.
