Klaus Feichtinger & Manfred Hackl Recycling Technology

Klaus Feichtinger and Manfred Hackl developed a new technology that prepares waste into high-quality pellets, which are the starting material for new products.

Plastic waste can be recycled but mixed plastics often clog into processor while being compressed and melted as material inside the cutter/compactor had been turned in the same direction as the extruder screw, which meant that there is sometimes a difference in the material flow inside the screw.

To tackle the issue, the 2 Austrian inventors have come up with a technology that reverses this principle, so the material inside the cutter/compactor rotated in the opposite direction to the extruder's flow. The shredded plastic is rotated in the opposite direction of the extruder screw, allowing it to be processed faster and at lower temperatures.

Their invention means that the extruder can handle more material in a shorter period, and process plastic even at lower temperatures, resulting in more throughput and better quality. Their Counter Current technology consequently improves productivity and enables waste from previously untapped segments. The machines can, for example, recycle heavily printed plastic films like those used to wrap consumer items. 

The technology is marketed through EREMA, a subsidiary of the EREMA Group GmbH, which Hackl and Feichtinger jointly managed for several years. Today, the company operates machines in 108 countries and is the world leader in systems and technologies in the field of plastics recycling,

Klaus Feichtinger and Manfred Hackl won the European Inventor Award 2019 in the category "Industry".