Specialist articles

Alex Del Priore – Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Services. The pressure to reduce environmental impact is reshaping how pharmaceutical companies approach manufacturing. Sustainability is no longer a secondary consideration. It is becoming a core design requirement, shaping how processes are developed, scaled, and evaluated across the industry. At the heart of this transition is green chemistry, which is evolving from an aspirational goal into a practical, business-critical tool. Several forces are driving this shift. Fluctuating raw material costs, tightening solvent regulations, increasing scrutiny on waste generation, and the push for Scope 3 emissions reduction have converged. At the same time, the tools and frameworks available to support sustainable process redesign have matured significantly. What was once complex or experimental is now increasingly reliable, reproducible, and scalable in industrial settings. We recently saw these changes come together in a project with a global pharmaceutical partner. The company

Sustainable projects can be quickly implemented, e.g., with RHEWUM screenmachines, recovering valuable materials at high throughput rates. 1. SUMMARY When discussing sustainability, most people immediately think of wind turbines, solar panels, and similar green technologies. However, truly sustainable and commercially viable projects can often be implemented quickly and easily within existing screening and grinding processes provided the right technology is in place. This article offers practical insights into this overlooked area. RHEWUM fine-cut screens, such as the RHEsono® or RHEsonox® models, enable highly precise protective screening even at substantial throughput rates. These systems can achieve separations as fine as 50 μm or 300 mesh, allowing for effective recovery of valuable materials that would otherwise be lost. In the following sections, we’ll demonstrate just how economically beneficial the recovery of filter dust can be, an opportunity many operations currently miss. 2. INTRODUCTION In efficient comminution systems, mills are usually operated in combination with screens. Rather

After 29 years of operation, the waste wood recycling plant of the Gigler company was refurbished. Production manager Alexander Schönacher optimized the plant together with HejuTec and FB Ketten. The result: a more efficient and reliable plant. *Challenge and objective The refurbishment of the waste wood recycling plant was a demanding task. The objective was to renew the wear components, eliminate bottlenecks in the conveyor system and ensure operational reliability and performance for the next three years through technical optimization. At the same time, it had to be ensured that the work was completed within the planned revision time window in order to keep the production loss as low as possible. *Implementation of the renovation A decisive success factor was the close and professional cooperation of the three project partners Alexander Schönacher from Gigler, Jürgen Heinzelmann from HejuTec and FB chain application specialist Mario Fähndrich. The scraper chains, sprockets, bearings and chain wear strips were expertly replaced and the scraper floors lined with wear plates. In addition, targeted optimizations were made to the conveyor system to minimize material flow disruptions and increase

Controlling moisture content throughout the process eliminates common issues The moisture content in a product can have serious effects on its final quality. Controlling and adjusting the moisture content throughout the process can eliminate many common manufacturing issues. While laboratory and other manual methods have been used for years, new automated moisture measurement and control systems can play an important role in improving product quality monitoring, increasing plant efficiency, and lowering energy costs. Moisture measurement technologies and benefits Moisture levels present in raw materials and finished products play a critical role in manufacturing quality and consistency. They also have a bearing on costs – water weight is heavy and manufacturers can lose millions of dollars when moisture levels are too high. Those buying and shipping out materials with too much water weight are shouldering needless costs. There are several available methods for moisture measurement in industrial manufacturing settings, including visual

Reduces waste and energy costs and improves process efficiency Incorporating the right combination of automation tools can help production facilities overcome challenges posed by outdated machinery and labor-intensive procedures that hinder overall productivity. One key example is automated moisture monitoring, where the “steel collar” worker automates mundane, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks, allowing valuable human resources to focus on more critical jobs and eliminate inefficiencies that hinder peak production. When installed directly on the production line, automated moisture monitoring significantly reduces human error inherent in time-consuming and out-of-date manual processes. Incorporating moisture measurement during production allows the user to create a closed-loop process and have full control over the production line. While several methods are available, the use of near-infrared (NIR) technology can produce a high return on investment (ROI). Benefits of moisture content measurement equipment and processes:

Presentation of a special shear for cutting aluminum profiles with which production companies can close the internal recycling cycle. Successful commissioning of shear for cutting scrap profiles from aluminum profile production in press shops. With the shear, our customers are able to shred the profiles internally without much effort directly on site in order to melt them down again if necessary, or to take them to the remelter with little logistical effort. The shear require little space, can be loaded with a forklift and, thanks to their well-thought-out design, have low investment and operating costs. This saves our customers time-consuming handling, unnecessary storage and logistics costs and thus a big step towards the “circular economy”.

Causes of fire in recycling are complex. Veolia has identified the main risks in the process and ensured effective fire protection in its own plants. Veolia relies on T&B’s holistic protection concept to reduce fires in plants. We regularly read about devastating fire incidents in the recycling industry that destroy an entire plant and often threaten the continued existence of the company. Leading recycling companies have therefore had an internal damage management system in place for several years. The aim is to determine the causes of fire incidents and develop suitable countermeasures. Evaluations at Veolia, the global market leader in the areas of waste disposal, energy and water, have shown that shredders are a key risk area for fires. In Germany, the Veolia Umweltservice Group operates around 70 waste sorting and recycling plants with a total of over 150 pre- and post-shredders in operation. Main causes precisely identified The main causes of fires at and in shredders are impurities and faulty waste in the delivered waste. Most noticeable are pressurized containers, highly flammable liquids and

About magnetic filtering, magnetic separation, several ways to remove metal foreign bodies from your product streams. Magnetic separators remove metal foreign bodies from your product streams. Metal foreign bodies ’contaminate’ your product, and they can also cause severe damage to your machinery. Rejection of batches is costly, but it can be even more costly if the foreign bodies are not removed, making it necessary to conduct a product recall. You will then be faced with huge costs and reputation damage. Examples of metal contaminants / foreign bodies: staples, nails and screws, bolts and nuts that have vibrated loose, wear of the moving steel and stainless steel machine parts and rust particles (corrosion). Magnetic separators filter and remove metal contaminations from your product streams, in order to guarantee high product quality and prevent damage to machines. Magnetic separator or metal detector? A magnetic separator filters/traps (and later removes) or immediately removes the metal contaminants from the product flow. Magnetic separators cause practically no product