2019 Review of News and Blogs
By Paul Fears | 16 December 2019
Incredibly, BREXIT and plastic waste have dominated the news in 2019 as they did in 2018. Although there is a great deal of rhetoric, neither issue appears any closer to a satisfactory conclusion. 2019 has been an exciting year for Bunting-Redditch and we look back at the magnetic separator and metal detector stories that hit the headlines on the Bunting-Redditch and Bunting-Berkhamsted sites.
January
2019 started with the International Electronics Recycling Congress IERC held in Salzberg, Austria. The congress coincided with the introduction of the new EU target of collecting 65% of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).
The Bunting team reported back from the first exhibition of the year; Arabplast 19. The 4-day exhibition focused on the Middle East plastics, petrochemicals and rubber industries.
With the Master Magnets branded of magnetic separators, Bunting has supported the mineral processing for several decades. In January, we announced sponsorship of the Physical Separation ’19 conference organised the Minerals Engineering International (MEI).
At the end of the month, we announced a new addition to our mineral processing test laboratory – the High Intensity Electromagnetic Filter. The Magnetic Filter is used to test the efficiency of removing fine iron and weakly magnetic minerals from mineral slurries and ceramic slips and glazes.
February
In early February, we reported the sale of three Stainless Steel Magnetic Separators in January 2019. The positive news was followed by a visit from Scott and Richard from Skip Hire Magazine who had an opportunity to see the changes taking place at the Redditch facility.
Bunting completed the manufacture of Six In Line Magnetic Separators, destined for a plastics processing company in France.
Food safety hit the headlines with a report on a two-day magnetic separator audit conducted for Jordans Dorset Ryvita at their Poole plant. The food-focus continued with a review of the four metal-in-food safety alerts reported by the UK Food Standards Agency in 2018.
In mid February, Bunting announced a close working relationship with Renmar Plastics Machinery.
Scott and Richard were shown the new Recycling Test Facility, which was opened in February. Equipped with a range of metal separators including an Eddy Current Separator and Stainless Steel Magnetic Separators, the new test facility enables customers to see what separation is possible.
March
Large Pulley Magnets manufactured for a Swedish iron-ore mining project hit the headlines in March. This was followed by the announcement of Bunting exhibiting at Bauma 2019, the Germany-based European exhibition for the mining, construction, mineral processing and recycling industry.
Details of the availability of two high sensitivity Metal Detectors generated a great deal of interest in the middle of the month. Following controlled tests in the new Recycling Test Facility, we reviewed and took video of magnetic separators recovering ferrous metals from incineration ash.
The focus on developing business in export markets continued with a review of the Bunting distributor in Italy, Montenegro SRL.
Prof Neil Rowson returned at the end of the month to provide a technical explanation and video of the high intensity Rare Earth (RE) Magnetic Roll Separator. The RE Roll is used to remove para and ferro magnetic particles to produce high purity non-metallic minerals.
Food safety returned to the headlines at the end of the month with a report on metal contaminated vegetable products recalled by EH Booths.
April
Our Belgium distributor AJ Solutions held an open day at their facility in Zandhoven. The company specialises in providing solutions to the plastics sector.
At April’s Bauma exhibition, Bunting launched the new ElectroMax Overband Magnet. The ElectroMax range is 185% stronger than equivalent Permanent Overband Magnets and also 25% lighter and generated quite a stir. After the show, we wrote our Bauma review. It had been an incredibly bust 7-days with the new ElectroMax generating a great deal of interest.
The latest application story looked at an installation of two In Line Magnets used to remove metal contamination from potassium chloride.
Mining and quarrying continued to provide the focus with a technical article looking at detecting and removing tramp metal from conveyors with Metal Detectors.
The month finished with another UK Food Standards agency warning of food potentially contaminated with metal. Oatly UK’s Oatly Oat Drink Whole recalled the 1 Litre batch sold in Tesco stores.
May
In May, we provided mineral processing companies with a comparison report on the performance criteria of the Permanent Rare Earth Roll Magnetic Separator and Electro Induced Magnetic Roll Separator. Both are used to purify dry non-metallic minerals, but have distinct benefits.
Bunting has a long-standing reputation in the plastics sector and we assessed the impact of the global anti-plastic trend in our blog ‘The Plastics Future’.
Bunting announced that magnetic separators and metal detectors would be on display at the VICTAM 2019 international grain and animal feed exhibition in Cologne, Germany (June 19).
The next case history story focused on the installation of a large number of TN77 Metal Detectors in American quarries. The Tunnel-type Metal Detector has proved simply to transport, install and operate. This was followed by another export success story with the supply of an ElectroMagnetic Sweeper to a American metal fabricator in the United Arab Emirates. Exporting continued to provide the focus when, at the end of the month, we announced our plans to exhibit at the June 2019 VICTAM International animal feed and grain industry show in Cologne, Germany.
The month ended with another two reports on metal-in-food safety alerts issued by the UK Foods Standard Agency. Monolith (UK) recalled Ukraine-produced Halva and EH Booths recalled British-produced Corned Beef.
June
The Ceramics industry has always needed high intensity magnetic separators to cleanse bodies, slips and glazes of any iron contamination. This was the focus for the Ceramics UK show in June, the first ceramics-focused event in the United Kingdom for many years.
After the Physical Separation ’19 conference in Falmouth, we posted the abstracts of two papers presented by Prof Neil Rowson looking at the recovery of niobium minerals from slimes by gravity and magnetic separation and the processing of a rare-earth ore by gravity and magnetic concentration.
The latest aluminium can recycling rate in Europe was released in June. The rate had risen from 54% in 2010 to a record-breaking 75% and we assessed the impact of using technology such as Eddy Current Separators.
The Bunting team reported back from a very busy VICTAM International grain and animal feed show in Cologne, Germany.
July
The preferred appearance of Ceramic Sanitaryware is pure white, but this means that the raw materials need to be ultra-pure. We reviewed the best methods to ensure an iron-free basin or bath. Ceramics continued to provide the focus with a review of the successful Ceramics UK show held in Telford on the 10th and 11th July.
The latest case history focused on Stretchfilms RPC bpi in Leominster who installed a series of Bunting Drawer Magnets to capture ferrous metal contamination in the plastics manufacturing process.
We announced further investment in our laboratory with a new X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) analyser. This would further enhance the service we provide customers undertaking tests.
2019 was a big year for the Bunting Group as they celebrated their 60th anniversary. Founded in 1959 by Walter F. Bunting in Chicago, Illinois, the company has remained family-owned and family-operated ever since.
Preventative maintenance was the focus on our Eddy Current Separator Health Check article. Regular checks not only ensure that the Eddy Current Separator is mechanically sound but that it is also achieving the best level of separation.
August
A month prior to the 2019 RWM waste and recycling show, we announced our plans to have operating metal separators working on our stand. For the first time, our stand was right opposite the entrance to the show, providing visitors with noise and excitement as soon as the entered the hall.
On August 3rd 2019, Bunting celebrated its 60th anniversary as a company. To commemorate the occasion, the company re-branded.
The recycling theme continued with the announcement of exhibiting at the 24th International Congress for Battery Recycling in Lyon, France (September 2019).
The busy exhibition programme continued as Bunting announced details of their exhibition plans for the K2019 international plastics exhibition in Dusseldorg, Germany (October 19).
September
September was a recycling focused month that began with our Global Waste Challenge review. There was also a close examination of the UK and European Union targets for recycling plastic waste.
Bunting has a long-standing close-relationship with the local University of Birmingham and this continued with their purchase of a laboratory Eddy Current Separator.
The 2019 RWM show proved to be the busiest for many years as we discussed in our review of the show. As soon as RWM ended, our focus turned to another major international show – K2019. The K2019 show is the plastics industries leading international event and the Bunting focus was highlighting how to cleanse plastic of metal.
At the RWM show, Bunting announced joining the Polymer Machinery Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMMDA).
October
In another US export success story, one of the largest quarries in the US state of Georgia protected their processing plant against damage from tramp ferrous metal by installing a Bunting PCB1206-EL Permanent Crossbelt Separator.
For the remainder of October, there was a plastics-focus that started with the announcement of Bunting joining the Polymer Machinery Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMMDA). This was followed with a review of the best locations for metal separators in a plastics plant.
Just before the start of the K2019 plastic show, we announced the launch of a new product – the High Temperature Drawer Filter Magnet. During the show, we investigated the problem of plastic waste being contaminated by other materials such as metal. The Metal In Plastic Waste problem is resolved using a combination of metal separators.
The atmosphere at the K2019 Trade Fair (Dusseldorf, Germany 16-23 October 2019) was very positive despite the increasing global negativity surrounding the plastics industry and plastic waste. The Bunting stand was buzzing with visitors for the whole 7-days.
At the end of the month, we announced that Bunting was exhibiting at the Ecomondo green technology expo in Rimini, Italy in November 2019.
November
Bunting’s focus on developing export business was highlighted with the announcement of appointing Stafano Maiaroli to head up a new office in Italy for Southern Europe.
Metal contaminated food often hits the headlines and we reviewed three cases reported by the UK Food Standards Agency between July and November 2019.
December
There has never been a greater emphasis on maximising recovery without compromising on purity and we reviewed what this meant when separating non-ferrous metals using Eddy Current Separators.
The final news story of 2019 announced the opening of a second European Sales Office. Christopher Gabriel, who is based in Austria, has been appointed the Sales Manager for Central and Northern Europe.
We hope you have enjoyed reading our news and blogs in 2019. If there are any topics that you would like reviewed, then please get in touch and send an email to Paul our press officer (press@buntingeurope.com).
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