ICMA develops extrusion technology able to grant a
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, the use of Renewal &/or Recyclable Resources (e.g. natural fibers &/or plastic waste) and the Reduction of Energy consumption.
For this reason the following technological solutions have been focused to solve the challenges posed by environmental issues:
– Compounding lines for Biopolymers– Compounding lines for Recycling– WPC lines for composite materials (plastic / natural fiber)– Extrusion lines for recycled materials (sheets and profiles)These engineering solutions, all based on corotating extruders, are unique for the following features:
» The use of low cost materials coming from production scraps of natural products and other (e.g. plastic waste) to obtain finished items having innovative features.
» Feeding of single components into the corotating extruder to obtain a homogeneous blend ready to be directly extruded into semi-finished items. Direct extrusion allows remarkable energy saving.
More recently
ICMA has developed a new technology called
ECOIMPATTO, to obtain from mixed post-consumer plastics, nice decking with
superb mechanical and aesthetic qualities. The
Patent portfolio history, enjoyed by ICMA and explained below, is a further proof of this commitment.
In the '70 the cooperation with Solvay led to the patent for the production of wood filled PP flat sheets (
Woodstock) mainly used with great success in the automotive industry (Fiat – Ford – Nissan – Volkswagen).
Such method has been further improved and technologically adapted to the new generation of co-rotating extruders allowing the use of raw materials easily available on the market.
As further development of the above-mentioned application,
ICMA has set and patented a system for the production of composite materials (
Naturecore) consisting of a multi-layer sheet (polymer with natural fillers and external mineral filled coating). This application has been developed for the
agro industrial sector with the production of disposable crates, fully recyclable.