An automatic equipment separating the container of out-of date packaged food products from the product they contain
What could a packet of out-of-date tortellini possibly be worth? A pack of out-of-date snacks? A bottle of milk which has passed its expiry date? These can surely only have a negative value, together with hundreds of other out-of-date products which have been removed from supermarkets. Or not?The disposal of packaged food products which have passed their expiry date constitutes a big problem, because their highly protective packaging prevents the normal process of decay from occurring in landfill. This leads to an increase in volume of these landfill and a negative impact on the environment.
A viable solution for the end life of these products may lie in the way that they can be recycled.By separating the container from the product it contains, it is possible to obtain the reusable materials and prevent them from accumulating in landfill.Expired food products, according to their composition – solid, pulpy or liquid – can be used to produce (perhaps partially) animal food, but above all in the energy production chain in the generation of biogas.Packaging made of plastic, cardboard, paper or metal, after they have been emptied and cleaned, become transferrable materials for recycling plants.
The process of unpacking, separating and reusing these out-of-date food products fulfils a very important social and environmental function, in as far as the recycling of the containers and production of energy cost almost nothing, rather than consigning hundreds of tons of this product to landfill.
To effectively obtain important results in the cycle of treating the unpacking of the products, we need industrial equipment which is automated, secure, highly productive and reliable.
Tecnofer, which has manufactured equipment for the treatment of recyclable waste since 1976, has developed and produced a highly efficient system for unpacking and separating packaged food products.
The fundamental component of the system is an automatic unpacking machine which receives the product, even if it is packaged in multiple layers, cuts the packaging and separates the product inside from its container by centrifugal force. The two separated products are discharged from two different points of the machine, so that they can be easily sent to their respective uses.
The big advantage of this machine is that no shredding of the product is necessary before the separation phase. In fact, Teconfer’s depackaging machine was designed to simultaneously carry out the opening of the packaging and the separation of the elements which comprise the packaging.
The formation of the mechanical parts which characterize the process allows the machine to tear apart any metal or plastic container, even if it is highly resistant.
The depackaging system is being developed and supplied personally at the request of a client and his manufacturing requirements.
The fully automatic system consists of a loading system for the machine via a variable speed conveyer belt, and two removal systems: one for the product and one for the empty container.
The whole cycle of the process is managed by a PLC electric board which automatically controls and manages all the phases of operation.