Mastel Aluminium-Halbzeuge GmbH in Talheim is doing very good business by turning all the aluminum cutting waste in production into profit.
Shavings occur wherever planing work is done. If you replace planing with cutting, this statement applies accordingly to the imposing, 2600 sq.m. large production workshop of Mastel Aluminium-Halbzeuge GmbH where primarily aluminum is brought into form through precision cutting. Working 24 hours a day in 3 shifts, the plant creates a considerable amount of cutting waste: pure-grade material which managing director Marco Mastel has been turning into easily saleable recyclable material consistently since mid-2011. And he is helped in this by innovative technology from WEIMA.
Carefully considered investment
Several tonnes of pure aluminum as cutting waste per year. This magnitude made investment in a high-performance recycling system economically interesting. The decision for WEIMA Maschinenbau GmbH of Ilsfeld was made quite deliberately. And with good reason. Marco Mastel: “Fundamentally, we expect the highest professional competence from our suppliers, as well as proven experience with the products in which we are interested. And if both of these conditions are met, the deciding factor is the geographical proximity as this makes cooperation easier, particularly if something has to be discussed urgently in person.”
Mastel Aluminium-Halbzeuge GmbH is part of the Mastel Group and cuts panels, sheets, round material and profile sections of aluminum in all dimensions. Customers include machinery, tool and die manufacturers, automobile suppliers, aviation and the automation industry as well as medical and electrical engineering. Everything is focused on maximum quality. The model 1500 M briquetting press of the TH series installed by WEIMA at the end of the production line rounds off this production process and was installed in its own section of the building. This is where the extracted shavings from all automatic cutting machines are brought together for treatment. Mastel’s requirements were clear: To turn production-related waste into compact, easily storable and easily saleable recyclable material! A challenge that WEIMA solves these days for all types of material. In Mastel’s case, so that the aluminum briquettes formed at up to 280 bar fall straight off the conveyor belt into big bags ready for sale.
WEIMA is pleased to provide all future-oriented companies with detailed information on the innovative technology of shredding and briquetting. The same applies for current references. And here the amazing facts on profitability. A clear statement: The greater the pressure, the smaller the volume – and all the more profit! Marco Mastel puts this into clear terms. “Using WEIMA technology, we have reduced the volume of our waste material by around 80 %. And that is really easy to market!”
Rapid amortization
Really easy to market? Naturally, the achievable market prices of pure aluminum for the recycling process play a decisive role in this respect. In view of the compact briquette form, Mastel can certainly expect that the price will be right – and fully benefit the calculated rapid amortization of the WEIMA system.
Marco Mastel casts a glance at the operating meter. Then, he names an amazing figure. After only 12 months since commissioning, the machine’s electronic system shows that it has already been in operation for 4500 hours. “We are running three shifts all year round. Our TH is in stand-by mode 24 hours a day. It starts up automatically as soon as the defined volume has been reached in the shavings container.