The Austrian State Innovation Award 2024 Goes to ENGEL for Its Two-Stage Process for More Energy-Efficient Plastic Recycling

On 7 October 2024, Austrian Federal Minister for Labour and Economy, Martin Kocher, presented the award in Vienna. The State Award honours Austria’s most innovative companies, and the jury recognised ENGEL’s contribution as a groundbreaking transformation in the recycling process.

In their statement, the jury emphasised the significance of the two-stage process: “This method is highly innovative and ecologically invaluable. The project’s benefits, as well as the promotion of the company’s innovative capacity, were very positively assessed. By eliminating an additional processing step, resources and costs are significantly saved. The technology enhances recycling processing capabilities, reduces the global CO₂ footprint, supports the circular economy, and revolutionises the industry with a 30% energy saving.”

“What’s innovative and remarkable about the two-stage process is that it shortens the recycling route. In the traditional processing of recycled materials, raw material is supplied to the injection moulding machine in pellet form, which has been separately processed beforehand. With ENGEL’s new two-stage process, shredded recycled material can now be directly processed into new parts without prior preparation. In the first stage, plastic flakes are melted in a plasticising screw. Impurities and odour emissions are then removed through a continuous melt filter and a degassing unit. The injection and shaping of the part constitute the second stage. This allows plastic part production from recycled material to be streamlined into a single process step, enabling direct processing at the injection moulding machine. This reduces investment costs, energy consumption, and CO₂ emissions,” explains Dr Klaus Fellner, Head of Application Technologies at ENGEL.

Dr Johannes Kilian, Head of Process and Application Technology at ENGEL, emphasises: “ENGEL, as Austria’s largest machine builder, is an innovative family-owned company. We have been intensively focused on recycling for many years. Thus, this innovation award is a significant signal for ENGEL and the entire plastics industry. The State Innovation Award highlights the relevance of plastic and plastic recycling, as plastics and the circular economy are essential components for a sustainable future, especially in the context of climate change and carbon neutrality.”