(Interview) ZERMA: The demand for high output recycling machines is on the rise
ZERMA was founded in Germany in 1941 and has a long history of supplying equipment for size reduction of plastics. Its shredders are easy to operate and maintain and reliable. The ZRS shredders are the world’s first single shaft shredders able to handle large diameter pipes up to 1200 mm without the need for pre-cutting.
Popular high output recycling machines
“Driven by the trend towards automation of recycling machines, customers are increasingly looking for high throughput recycling machines and consistent quality recycled materials,” Max Paeslack, CEO of ZERMA Machinery & Recycling Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. says.
“ZERMA is constantly optimizing its product designs and focusing on the improvement for control systems to effectively connect recycling machines with customer’s production lines. Besides, the machines’ automate shredding and recycling processes reduce manual operations, significantly improving recycling efficiency,” he adds.
The ZRS series shredder is designed for the recycling of large-diameter pipes of various diameters without pre-cutting. It can directly recycle large pipes with a length of 7 meters and a diameter of 2 meters. Equipped with a large diameter rotor, the machine can be equipped with shredders and pulverizers for multi-step recycling to meet the needs of a wide range of applications.
The ZRS series shredder is designed for the recycling of large-diameter pipes.
“Pipe recycling shredder is one of ZERMA's core businesses, and the market has grown steadily since the introduction of the ZRS series for direct recycling of large diameter pipes 15 years ago,” says Max Paeslack.
Currently, there are more than 200 ZRS shredders from Zerma running smoothly at customer’s facilities around the world.
All-round technological advances to reduce energy consumption
Meanwhile, ZERMA single-shaft shredder series can be used to recycle large and sturdy materials with higher throughput. The combination of a heavy-duty rotor, low rotational speed and a high torque gear can lower energy consumption by reducing current peaks.
In addition, the ZERMA shredders are equipped with concave ground square knives, and the four corners of the knives can be used alternately, i.e. each knife can be used four times in a row to improve recycling efficiency.
ZERMA shredders can be equipped with special rotors and highly wear-resistant knives and knife holders when working with rigid and contaminated materials. For tires, municipal waste and other contaminated materials, special carbide knives can be used in combination to increase their lifetime.
Optimistic about the Chinese market
Max Paeslack says that the company's solid growth in China has benefited from the development of the environmental sector and the increased demand for recycling over the past few years. “We have also established good relationships with local cleaning companies to integrate our shredders into complete recycling installations.”
Max Paeslack, CEO of ZERMA Machinery & Recycling Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
He emphasizes the importance of high quality machines and a good balance between performance and price in the Chinese market. “Chinese customers are also very concerned about whether the machines are safe and easy to maintain.”
He believes that logistics and supply chain issues as well as ocean freight capacity and cost for exports remain the biggest challenges for Zerma in 2022.
“This means that we will not only keep focusing on the expansion of the domestic market, but also continue to invest in our Shanghai plant to upgrade the facilities and optimize the production processes, so as to increase production capacity. In addition, we will further improve our plant and production facilities in Thailand so that our second production center can better serve the continued demand for slow-speed edge shredders in the market,” he concludes.
