ActionLaser drills into recycling industry with new filter products

Filtration screen specialist ActionLaser has announced its entry into the international market for plastic recycling via a project backed by the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre.

ActionLaser was established in 1988 based on laser drilling technology developed at CSIRO, originally focussed on centrifuge screens for the sugar processing industry, and later branched out into filtration screens for other sectors.

The recent project was supported by $558,500 through AMGC’s Commercialisation Fund and centred on melt filtration systems for plastic recycling (pictured below.) It drew on expertise from Senarc Services – run by co-founder of ActionLaser and former CSIRO industrial laser group leader Dr Ken Crane – and stage engineering business Simple Motion.

ActionLaser’s newly-launched MeltFilter brand is now being exported and is believed to hold vast sales potential to recyclers who have been limited to the world’s dominant supplier for the consumable product.

“Precision is in our DNA and we are very good at drilling small holes with lasers. But applying this to world-class melt filters involves not just precise laser drilling techniques, but access to the correct steels, various kinds of specialised hardening processes, mastery of some very complex design challenges, and high-level software and automation to ensure you can do it all competitively,” said Steve Greer, Global Manager of MeltFilter, in a statement.

Bevan Rashford, ActionLaser’s CEO and the original researcher behind the MeltFilter technology added that the project had “completely changed” a 35-year-old business.

“It has helped us increase our sales, increase our staff to 30 and export nearly 80 per cent of what we make,” said Rashford.

“ActionLaser is the kind of manufacturer that reminds you of what works, and what can be achieved in Australia by commercialising and exporting our great ideas and products,” said Dr Jens Goennemann, Managing Director at AMGC

Australian thermal processing company Heat Treatment Australia is also mentioned as a key contributor to ActionLaser’s supply chain, providing core hardening technologies and investing in new equipment for surface treatment – currently performed overseas – to help meet the predicted demand for the new melt filters. 

Pictures: supplied