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E  Q  U  I  P  M  E  N  T ........................................................................................... TRANSPORTATION The waste, our raw material, is brought to the plant by different waste disposal companies and/or government agencies. Depending on the type and quantity of the material, different equipment is used for it's transportation. EPPR has its own transportation equipment which includes one (1) 8 wheel heavy tractor, one (1) 6 wheel light tractor, two (2) 45' low-boy flatbed trailers, three 45' closed vans together with several assorted cargo trucks. Waste materials from Industrial sector generators of recyclables are picked up in bulk and brought to the plant for processing. Municipalities either deliver their recyclables in their own collection/compactor trucks or use Company owned vans.
PRE-PROCESSING ........................................................................................... RECEIVING This is the first step in the recovery/reuse process. The Company receives the materials in bulk where it is quantified through weighing of delivered materials. The materials are dumped onto a concrete pad where Company owned front-loaders move the materials to an in-ground conveyer belt for transport to the separation line. During this phase, any materials not deemed suitable for processing are removed and disposed of in a landfill or returned to the delivery source. Post-industrial materials are received into the warehouse separately so as not to be mixed with the post-consumer stream.
........................................................................................... SEPARATION After the raw material is received in the plant, it must be sorted according to different criteria. Glass, metals and paper or OCC that we don't use are separated for delivery to other recyclers. The plastics continue through the separation line where a team of 12 pickers separate the PVC and PET from the polyethylenes and polypropylines which make up the bulk of the post-consumer plastics and are sent to balers. The remaining materials go directly to the grinding process. This phase can process between 3 and 5 tons hourly depending on the quality of the incoming material.
PROCESSING ........................................................................................... GRINDING This phase transforms the waste plastic into the raw material for production of finished products. Whole plastic containers are fed together with bags and plastic film into grinders which reduce the bulk material into flakes ranging in size from 1/4" to 5/8". To allow for larger items such as barrels or plastic drums, the Company operates a 350 Horsepower shredder as well as three smaller shredders of varying capacity. The Company has three grinders installed for the final size reduction ranging from a 3 ton per hour 150 HP machine, a 1 ton per hour 100 HP unit and a 50 HP granulator capable of 1/2 ton per hour. The output of granulated material is then transferred to gaylords or silos for pre-storage.
........................................................................................... BALING Material removed from the sorting line such as PVC and PET and film plastics, aluminium and metal cans, paper and OCC is collected in bins before being transferred via conveyers to a compactor or baler. The machine produces bales ranging in weight from 700 pounds to 1,800 pounds at the rate of 2 bales per hour. These bales reduce the storage space required until 40,000 pound lots can be collected and shipped to other processors. Aluminium is shipped to a local broker, while paper and OCC either is delivered to a local mill or mills in South America. The plastics are shipped to manufacturers in the United States or Asia.
........................................................................................... BLENDING The blender is used to mix 500 pound batches of plastic granules or flakes of different types to obtain the most appropriate consistency for the final product being produced . Additional stabilizers, UV protectors, blowing agents and colorizers and other additives are introduced during this stage. The installed capacity allows for up to one ton per hour to be prepared. However, not all production processes require the blending/mixing stage.
........................................................................................... CONTROLS The "brains" of the manufacturing process are the control panels which regulate heating, cooling, pressure, material flow and fill valves. The digital controls maintain temperatures within the extrusion process and in the distribution manifolds such that the plastic flakes are maintained in a constant fluid state. The extrusion-intrusion molding process has 7 individual temperature zones. The continuous extrusion system has only 4 zones.
........................................................................................... EXTRUDING The extruder receives the granulated plastics and through a combination of heat and pressure melts the plastics for molding into the final product. Using different tooling and variying the plastic formulas, different shapes for a variety of products are produced. The Company has three extruders with two of them having 4 1/2" barrels and one of them has a 6" barrel. The extruder consists of a long barrel heated by means of external electrical bands. Inside the barrel is a screw which moves the plastic flakes from the input end to the output end. Since the screw is of varying diameter, as the plastic is moved through the tube, pressure is increased to help in the heating and mixing process. One of the extruders has two counter-rotating screws to further help in this process. The extruders, made by companies such as AGM (Austria), PRODEX (USA) and IKEGAI  (Japan), can process between 700 and 1,200 pounds per hour each. Another process using a patented system known as a "K-Mixer" prepares the granulated plastics for molding by rotating the flakes inside a drum at such a speed as to melt the flakes through the friction thus developed. This system can produce a homogenous melted mix of up to 20,000 pounds per hour. The resulting mix, once it has reached the desired temperature, is ejected onto a conveyer and transferred to a 1,200 ton per square inch press where a mold is used to compress the molten plastic into the desired shape.
........................................................................................... MOULDING This equipment transforms the molten waste plastic into the final product. One system consists of fixed molds of varying sizes which are cooled once full by means of water jackets surrounding each mold with circulating water chilled to 35 degrees farenheit. The resulting heat transfer allows the plastic in the molds to contract and harden. The resulting hardened plastic shape is then removed manually in from 10 minutes to 90 minutes depending on the size of the mold. This system is used primarily to make the larger dimensional lumber pieces such as guardrail posts and railway ties. One machine can produce up to 200 pieces of 6" x 8" x 6' per day. Another system passes the plastic from the extruder through a dye or form on a continuous basis from where it is then pulled through a vacuum sizing tank which simultaneously through applying a vacuum maintains the shape while cooling it. Once hardened it is pulled through a saw which cuts the continuously moving shape to the desired length. This process is used primarily to manufacture the thinner boards, stakes and tubing. One machine using this process produces up to 1,600 boards measuring 1" x 4" x 8' in a day. The compression molding process which is used in conjunction with the "K-Mixer" uses sophisticated molds with elaborate cooling channels. The molten plastic, once dumped into the bottom half of the mold cavity, is then compressed from above by the matching upper half mold cavity at pressures up to 1,200 tons per square inch. The heat created is rapidly dissipated by the water cooled molds and the finished product is ejected. This process is used to make pallets and roofing tiles. Production of up to 2 pallets per minute are capable using this process. The Company also operates a 400 ton, 60 ounce throw injection molder to make the risers for the pallets and other multi cavity products such as ice trays, oil funnels and buckets. Certain plastics can also be mixed with processed fibrous materials such as "Bagas" (the sugar cane plant residue) and run through a pelletizer. The plastic and fiber is extruded through a dye which forms it into strands resembling spaghetti. Once cooled, a rotating chopper cuts the strands into tiny pellets which can then be sold to other manufacturers or used by the Company for producing other products.
POST-PROCESSING ........................................................................................... TRANSPORTATION This equipment consists of a fleet of trucks, vans and flatbed trailers owned by the Company. In addition, the Company uses contracted trucking companies to deliver its products to customers in Puerto Rico or to ships for delivery to overseas customers. ...........................................................................................