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Schütz Intensifies Activities in England: New Production Line for Multilayer Plastic Drums
Drum business up for considerable expansion
Selters / Worksop. The Selters-based German company Schütz GmbH und Co. KgaA plans to step up its activities in England before the year is out. Its prime aim is to expand its plastic drum operations there. This applies chiefly to the 220-litre tight-head drum with the type designation “F1”. A new production line is currently being installed at the site of its British subsidiary Schütz UK in Worksop. The central component is a continuous extrusion blow-moulding unit with a maximum annual output of several hundreds of thousands of plastic drums, including automatic testing and palleting. The line is due to be taken into operation in the second quarter of 2007.
“We are very pleased about this development, which will enable us in future to use the Security Layer Technology developed by Schütz in the products we produce here,” Bob Banks, general manager of Schütz UK, points out. This multilayer extrusion blow-moulding process makes it possible to plasticise three functional drum layers simultaneously, thereby opening up some completely new applications. “The UK market is ready for a new producer of tight-head drums that stands for absolutely reliable delivery and first-class quality while at the same time placing the emphasis on economic and ecological aspects,” Banks stresses.
Schütz has already had a factory in Worksop since 1992. The over five-hectare site traditionally turns out IBCs of the successful Schütz Ecobulk series for the UK market. Up to now, more than 120 employees have operated the different blow-moulding units installed on a production area some 5000 m2 in size and supplied their home market with several hundred thousand transport containers (IBCs) each year. The works also houses a modern reconditioning unit including material recycling with wet mill processing and process water treatment. The production site has now been extended by 1.5 hectares and the production area more than doubled to accommodate the new line for the production of plastic drums.
“A very promising new generation of drums has been developed on the basis of our revolutionary multilayer extrusion process,” says Mr Banks. “This applies particularly to the substitution of conventional steel drums. Given the prevailing market requirements, we will in future be concentrating on the three-layer, F1 tight-head drum as well as our standard products.
The F1 tight-head drum from Schütz was developed in close collaboration with Basell and is an excellent all-round performer. Its success is due to the new multimodal polyethylene, Histif 5431Z, used in its manufacture, which is produced using Basell’s innovative Advanced Cascade Process technology.
Thanks to its material profile, this drum is superior in every respect to conventionally used products. All in all, it is a convincing option thanks to its great cold-temperature impact strength, considerably improved stacking-pressure resistance and its tremendous resistance to stress cracking. Schütz has also successfully carried out cold drop tests of up to three metres on the drum, a sensational height for drums. The drum’s optimised top-plate geometry additionally ensures greater protection for both outlet nozzles. Last but not least, the Schütz product makes it possible for the drums to be completely drained (<100ml), in accordance with VPA 4, via both outlet nozzles.
The electrostatically equipped model, type F1-EX, now also offers the opportunity to transport filling products with a flashpoint of < 60° Celsius. Until now, this could only be done in steel drums. Thanks to Security Layer Technology, the drum now has an outer layer made of conductive material (black) and the filling product is earthed via a contact strip. The drum passed the electrostatic safety test to qualify for use in hazardous areas 1 and 2.
“We want to consolidate our position as the UK IBC market leader for a long time to come, to expand that position progressively and in the near future to achieve that status with our tight-head drums, as well,” says Bob Banks with some anticipation. “We are confident that our revolutionary production technology and our offensive in the drum sector especially will fill our proverbial sails with wind and help us to achieve these goals.”
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