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Home | Success Stories | More autonomy through clothes hanger recycling: Plásticos Ojara in Colombia

More autonomy through clothes hanger recycling: Plásticos Ojara in Colombia

The Colombian company Plásticos Ojara is located in the idyllic south of the city of Medellin. The company is well known in the region as one of the leading manufacturers of plastic clothes hangers. Thanks to the use of aWLK 4 single-shaft shredder, it is possible to recycle rejected products on-site and return the material to the production process. In this way, waste can be effectively avoided, the purchase of raw materials can be reduced, and previously unused residual plastic is given a second life.

For more than 40 years, Plásticos Ojara, which now employs around 200 people, has been an important supplier of hangers to the local textile industry. About 90% of the hangers produced are used by Colombian companies. The other 10% is exported to Ecuador, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic.

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Wanted: A sustainable solution to the problem of waste

Always concerned about sustainability, the Latin American company was looking for a way to further optimize production and at the same time make it even more environmentally friendly. Those responsible at Plásticos Ojara decided not to dump rejects in the future, but instead to reintegrate the raw material into the manufacturing process. The cycle begins with an industrial shredder.

plasticos ojara employee sorts plastic hangers on a table

Sorting of broken plastic hangers

weima shredder in backrgound with plasticos ojara employee sorting clothes hangers

Recycling division of Plasticos Ojara

Machine to prepare plastic clothes hangers for shipping and transportation

Almost ready for shipping

01
40
yrs of experience
02
350
kg output/hr
03
200
employees

Found: The compact plastic shredder WLK 4 from WEIMA

Following recommendations from partner companies, the choice finally fell in favor of WEIMA’s proven German mechanical engineering. Installation and commissioning went smoothly. Thanks to the comparatively short delivery time, the WLK 4 shredder was soon able to start work – and excelled with high throughput rates.

orange WEIMA shredder with shredded plastic in big bag at plasticos ojara production hall

WEIMA WLK 4 single-shaft shredder for plastic scrap at Plasticos Ojara

The WLK 4 single-shaft shredder has a working width of 600 mm and an electromechanical drive with WEIMA’s own WAP gearbox in combination with a V rotor and a generously dimensioned hopper in logspacer design. This prevents feed material from forming bridges. As a rule, it is operated with a throughput of approx. 350 kilograms per hour, but a higher throughput is also possible with continuous feeding. The rotor cutting blades can be flipped several times when worn, which drastically reduces the machine’s maintenance costs. The shredder can be operated intuitively via the touchscreen display.

view in side shredder with rotor and clothes hangers

Shredding of plastic clothes hangers

Up to 30% of the manufactured clothes hangers are made from recycled plastic

Plásticos Ojara uses only polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene (PE) to produce hangers. Around 250,000 kilograms of these materials are processed every day, most of which come from the company’s own production. Waste generated in the production process (e.g. during start-up and shut-down) is shredded by the WLK 4, then granulated and returned to the manufacturing process to produce new hangers. Around 30 % of the clothes hangers are now made using regranulate. In addition to recycling in-house waste, the company also collects old clothes hangers from surrounding customers or stores.

shredded and granulated clothes hangers next to recycled new hangers on a table

The plastic clothes hangers recycling loop

Important – not only in times of crisis: Autonomy

By creating an internal recycling line with WEIMA shredding technology, Plásticos Ojara has now become even more independent of external influences. Expensive raw material purchases are reduced to a minimum. This creates new scope for entrepreneurial activity and further opportunities to optimize production. Storage areas that were previously allocated become available again. Intralogistics expenses for waste handling are reduced. Thus, Plásticos Ojara is a Colombian flagship for the local recycling economy.

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WEIMA Maschinenbau GmbH

Bustadt 6-10

74360 Ilsfeld

Tel. +49 7062-9570-0 media@weima.com

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About WEIMA

More than 40,000 machines sold worldwide! WEIMA has been manufacturing robust shredders and briquetting presses for the disposal and processing of all types of waste for more than four decades. Our machines include single-shaft shredders, four-shaft shredders, cutting mills and briquette presses. The popular blood orange machines are used in the wood, plastics, paper, metal and waste-to-energy industries.

Made in Germany. Built for the world.

Shredders and briquette presses from WEIMA are exclusively made in Germany and come from production plants in Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Wuerttemberg. Every year, more than 300 employees work on around 1,200 customer solutions from around the globe. We have long-standing sales and service locations in the USA, Poland, India and China. More than 80 representatives supplement this global presence.

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