Equipment for the Recovery of Modified Bitumen Membranes

The system to recover production scrap material after working bitumen membranes generates a new product which does not have a specific name and which contains, in different measures, all the components of the membranes from the reinforcement to the various finishing components. The objective of the equipment is to recover 100% of the waste in order to reuse it as a component in the production process. It is however essential to make a fundamental distinction between the waste that has been accumulated for years and the one which is produced every day. The accumulated waste has almost certainly lost most of its physical- chemical characteristics that were present when it was produced and the method used to treat it will be explained later on.

It is our opinion that it is first of all necessary to “come full circle”, specifically reinsert all the daily waste into the production process.

The best way to make use of the bitumen characteristics is to reuse it in the same mix where it comes from and in the same percentage.

With this objective in mind the process includes a packing phase where the waste is automatically put into PE bags which are then placed on pallets, stored in the warehouse and treated like any other component of a certain “recipe”. The equipment operates in a continuous cycle at an average of about 300 Kg/h. The production process is completely automatic and does not require the presence of an operator except to pick up the finished pallet and load the rolls to be treated.