Recycling
COLLECTING
RECYMAR’s certified partners in the UK, Belgium and Germany collect carpets and textiles and deliver these to RECYMAR. Collected materials are:
- Used carpets and textiles, coming mainly from renovation projects;
- Left-overs from carpet factories, mainly edge trimmings and faulty carpets;
- Artificial turf from sports pitches;
- Some categories of textile waste.
After a first quality check, RECYMAR compresses the carpet and textile material in 1m3 bales. The bales are stuffed in containers and sent to the RECYMAR plants in Morocco, Belgium and the UK. To ensure trouble free logistics between the UK, Belgium and Morocco, RECYMAR operates its own shipping line. This also secures a timely delivery of our TECAPOWER® products to our clients.
SORTING
In the RECYMAR recycling plants, incoming material is checked against strict standards and specifications. Assisted by XRF and IR spectrometers, plant operators sort the material in different categories, according to composition and quality:
- Vinyl floor covering and carpets with vinyl backing;
- Polypropylene carpets, including artificial turf;
- Nylon and polyester carpets and textiles;
- Wool and cotton carpets;
Carpets of which the pile can be recovered for re-use are sent to the shearing lines. Carpets that cannot be sheared go directly to the shredders to be converted into TECAPOWER® products. Vinyl items are sent to PVC producers for re-use.
CARPET SHEARING
Carpets of which the pile can be recovered are sheared.The shearing process ensures that the maximum amount of pile is removed from the carpet backing.The recovered pile is then cleaned and packed in big bags or in plastic wrapped bales. Shearing of complete carpets is done by larger, rail mounted shearing machines. Smaller pieces of carpet like edge trimmings and cuttings are sheared with smaller hand held machines.
SHREDDING AND PELLETIZING
Carpet backings from which the pile was removed and carpets that cannot be sheared are sent to the shredding and pelletizing line. This line consists of a primary shredder for shredding carpets into larger pieces (15-30cm), followed by a magnetic separator for removing occasional metal parts, a screen and a secondary shredder. In the process sand and dirt that may come with the carpets is removed by screens and wind shifters. Shredded material can be delivered directly to our customers as TECAPOWER-FL1 or TECAPOWER-FL2 products. Part of the shredded material is sent to a pellet mill for pelletizing into TECAPOWER-PT1 or TECAPOWER-PT2 products.
QUALITY CONTROL
All incoming and outgoing materials are checked in RECYMAR’s laboratories to ensure that they comply with our strict quality standards. All outgoing products are checked for size and chemical composition. TECAPOWER® products are also checked for their calorific content.
