AZO launches goods recovery plant system

AZO has also launched a system to recover product from faulty packaging. The Recovery Plant system serves to recover high-grade materials from bags and blister packs that are damaged, or that have been over- or under-filled. It then sorts the product from the packaging and returns the goods to the production line uncontaminated.

The fully automated system is being used successfully for products in the pharmaceutical industry. An inclined conveyor is used to transfer the faulty packages to the Recovery Plant system, and after opening the faulty packages, the coarse packaging material is separated from the product by a sorting rake and the packing residue discharged in an innovative micro screening process.

DA cyclone screener technology is used for reliable screening of even the smallest packaging residues, to ensure that only perfect product leaves the process.

After micro screening, the valuable products are then returned to the packaging process as gently as possible and without segregation. Depending on the type of product being used, AZO uses either dense-phase or low-velocity vacuum conveying systems for the automatic transfer of the products to the filling or packaging line.

The coarse particles from the packaging materials are transferred to a compressor, which packs the material into small bundles. When dealing with complicated packaging material, it is possible to use a milling system for opening packages ahead of the actual unit.

Alan Prentice, Director of Ingredient Handling Solutions (IHS), sole agent for AZO in the UK and Ireland, commented: 'This system has been thoroughly tested by the engineers at AZO's own testing plant in Germany. Recovery Plant is a fully automatic recovery system for high-grade materials.