Energy Efficiency in the Plastics Industry

By Rob Van Heur / Published on Tue, 2009-01-20 15:57

Energy Efficiency in the Plastics Industry

This Application Note describes the energy consumption and opportunities for making energy savings in the plastics industry based on examples from both theory and practice.

Two hundred and thirty million tons of plastic are produced annually worldwide. Europe, including Switzerland and Norway, accounts for 25 per cent of total production, this being approximately equal to the production of North America. 

The energy consumed in the plastics processing industry is mainly electrical. It is very process specific and can be mainly attributed to the following applications:

  • Melting of raw materials
  • Cooling (mould, gauges, oil, etc.)
  • Driving peripheral equipment such as grinders, compressors, pumps, pre-driers, mixers, etc.
  • Vacuum formation of semi-manufactured products

Along with the environmental pressures, process and cost efficiency are also essential to keep competitiveness. Energy Savings are at the basis of this process.

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