CASE STUDY

Grind Big or Go Home

A plastics manufacturer installs a more efficient scrap grinder to reduce operating costs and electricity demand.

Burks Falls, ON

Manufacturing

Burks Falls, ON

Manufacturing

The Project

Waveform Plastics specialize in thick gauge plastic thermoforming, producing durable goods for the automotive, medical, industrial, and marine industries. Their capabilities include tooling design, in-house mold fabrication, thermoforming, CNC machining and fabrication.

Waveform grinds all scrap plastic for reuse and recycling. They’ve experienced steady growth over the past few years and their current grinder is barely keeping up, meaning they have to run it during peak electricity demand times.

Investing in a new, larger granulator will ensure Waveform can continue to process 99.9% of their scrap, leaving room for growth. It will also reduce labour costs, reduce downtime, and allow them to reduce peak electrical demand.

The Benefits

Reduced Operating Costs

Reduced Energy Costs

The Benefits

Reduced Operating Costs

Reduced Energy Costs

The Results

The larger granulator will have a higher output (an increase from 600 to 1,800 lbs/hr), meaning it will only need to be run 1-2 days per week. This could help Waveform reduce peak electricity demand by 25kW and in turn, reduce their estimated monthly energy costs by around $700. The machine will also process larger scraps, reducing the need to saw scraps into smaller pieces first. These features are expected to reduce labour costs by up to $10,000 per year. In addition to costs savings, Waveform also look forward to reduced shop noise and improved efficiency.

Neil Hodder

General Manager

"At first, we did not imagine a $100,000 granulator would ever make sense for us. But when we analyzed the numbers, the payback period was reasonable, the added capacity and reliability were enticing, and we knew a nicer machine would add to the positive culture of our business. The funding from the Climate Action Microgrant will help us achieve this next step in our waste management and energy optimization goals!"

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