Erdwich supplies WEEE recycling equipment to Hong Kong and Lisbon
German company Erdwich Zerkleinerungs-Systeme GmbH is working to advance the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) around the world, supplying equipment to recycling plants in Hong Kong and Portugal.
Erdwich has supplied all WEEE recycling equipment for Tuen Mun EcoPark in Hong Kong, which was constructed between January 2017 and May 2018 and is run by international recycling specialist ALBA Group on behalf of the city of Hong Kong, as well as the equipment for the Ambigroup Recycling Park in Seixal, near Lisbon in Portugal, which specialises in recycling refrigeration devices.

"Since LCD screens and tube TVs, various types of refrigerators and air conditioners, washing machines and general e-waste are in the waste mix, we had to apply various technologies to meet all the requirements," said Harald Erdwich, Managing Director of Erdwich.
Two of the lines use robot technology to process LCD monitors and are able to process up to 60 devices an hour, while two lines deal with tube monitors, three deal with air conditioning and cooling units, while a final line deals with washing machines or tumble dryers, vacuum cleaners and toasters. All material flows travelling through the recycling lines can be routed in such a way that further separation and preparation steps can be optionally switched in.
With regard to the Seixal refrigeration equipment recycling plant, Erdwich supplied equipment that allowed recycling to meet new EU WEEE recycling standards over the disposal of harmful substances such as chlorofluoro and hydrocarbon compounds from WEEE and that valuable substances can be reused.
Coming online in April 2019, the Sexial plant was supplied with a special pre-shredder from Erdwich, the RM1350/2-2500 twin-shaft ripper, which optimally disassembles the components of refrigeration devices for further processing. The shredder is compact at 2.5 metres in length and 1.35 metres in width and is easy to repair and maintain, with the knives of the cutting gear made of wear-resistant special steel and are individually inserted and replaced. This allows different arrangement depending on the material being shredded.
In addition, the twin-shaft rotor ripper principle enables both forward and reverse ripping. Each external shaft is individually driven by a special flexibly mounted gear. The PLC control also ensures automatic reverse and cut-out control. The twin-shaft rotor ripper system runs particularly slowly and thus guarantees gentle processing.
"The real challenge in developing this new type of machine was to build a shredder that could handle even massive foreign matter without breaking the machine. This has never been achieved before," explains Erdwich.
The RM1350/2-2500 forms but one part of the recycling operation at the Seixal plant, which also includes a pre-dismantling section, a non-ferrous metals separation plant and a PU discharge, and through its 26 installed units produces recycled non-ferrous metals, ferrous metals, plastics and PUR foam in accordance with the EU standards CENELEC EN 50625-2-3 and CLL/TS 50625.
You can find out more about Erdwich on the company’s website.