FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to recycling of metalized film waste/trims and converting it to usable material. More specifically, the invention relates to a process and apparatus for processing non usable metalized film waste such as trims/sheets of any shape and size to yield a usable material that is free of metallic content and acidic nature and reused in production of films by suitable intermediate equipments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Metalized films are usually films with thin layer of metallic coatings/deposition on polymer films that impart a reflective metallic luster to the polymer film that not only looks good in flexible packaging applications but also provides several advantageous features such as barrier to light, water and atmospheric gases, etc. Metallization is performed using a physical vapor deposition process. Aluminium is the most common metal used for deposition, but other metals such as nickel or chromium are also used. The metal is heated and evaporated under vacuum. This condenses on the cold polymer film, which is unwound near the metal vapor source. This coating is much thinner than a metal foil could be made, in the range of 0.5 micrometers. This coating will not fade or discolor over time. Oriented polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene tere-phthalate (PET) are the most common films used for metallization. In addition to utility of metalized film in flexible packaging applications, they offer the glossy metallic appearance of an aluminium foil at a reduced weight and cost.
Other than flexible packaging applications, metalized films are widely used for decorative purposes as Christmas tinsel and continue to be used for items such as wrappers, ribbons etc. and food packaging, and also for specialty applications including insulation and electronics circuits such as film capacitors where the metalized film is being used as dielectric. Metalized films also find applications in spacesuits to reflect heat radiation, keeping astronauts warm, and in ?proximity suits? used by firefighters for protection from the high amount of heat released from fuel fires. Aluminized emergency blankets are also used to conserve a shock victim's body heat. MPET has been used as an antistatic container for other heat and sound insulating materials used in aircraft, to prevent the insulation from leaking into the passenger cabin.
Nowadays, there are many packages which prefer to utilize advantageous features of metallic film as well as providing a partial window for providing visual inspection of the product also known as window metalizing. Packages with partial window are generally transparent polymeric films with thin metallic coatings.
As the utilization of metalized films is huge in packaging industry, decorative purposes etc., a large amount of metallic film waste/trims is also obtained in these processes. The metalized polymer films are produced as sheet rolls which during each subsequent process are then trimmed and cut according to the packaging and product shape. In this course, the leftover parts of these polymer sheets & trims are then required to be disposed off.
Processing of waste of a single kind for disposal is comparatively easier than processing laminate waste or multilayer packaging waste/trims. Multilayer packaging waste/trims for its disposal require multiple processes to take place which is a time taking process. Therefore, in industry incineration, burning in cement kilns as fuel & road construction is the general practice for disposal of multilayer films waste/trims. In case of metalized film waste/trims, it is of importance that during such incineration processes or other process, the metal which can be recovered from the metalized film waste/trims and the film waste/trims which can be processed to a usable material are expended carelessly.
US 20160039992A1 discloses a process for converting the waste or used metalized polyester (PET) film into recycled PET (RPET) as a starting raw material for various utility products. Particularly, the present invention provides a process for the manufacturing of high quality strapping or mono filament yarn or sheets from the recycled metalized PET film. The main drawback of the invention is that washing stages vary from 2 to 10 times which is long process. The other drawback includes the quality of the end-product which is not suitable for use in biaxial orientation film lines.
US006231678B1 discloses a chemical delacquering composition, process and system for delacquering substrates such as aluminum scrap in which an aqueous solution containing at least one short-chain organic acid, preferably a mixture of two short-chain organic acids, and optional components such as surfactants, are contacted onto the substrate(s) with application of heat and agitation. The invention embraces the use of one or more organic acids (carboxylic acids) having a total of 2-12 carbons, preferably 3-8 carbons. Concentration of organic acid by weight ranges from about 0.5-8% per at least one organic acid, or preferably 2-4% for each organic acid component assuming two organic acid components is present. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, about 2-4% each of citric and lactic acids is present in the delacquering composition. Processing temperatures range from 160-212° F., preferably 180-212° F., and most preferably 185-212° F. The main drawback of the invention is that the processing time is quite long.
Therefore, there is a requirement of an environment friendly and time saving processes for recovery of usable material and metal from the metalized film waste/trims that is expended carelessly and which can then be reused – including reuse in biaxial orientation film line. Thus, recycling of metalized film waste will not burden the primary sources of raw materials.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The main object of the present invention is to provide a sustainable process and apparatus for recycling/reprocessing metalized film waste/trims and recovering usable material like film/polymer & aluminium separately.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an environment friendly and time saving processes for recovery of a usable material (film/polymer)as well as the metal from the metalized film waste/trims.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a de-metallization technology which removes metalized coating/layer/deposition from film waste/trims economically. Also, in this process and apparatus, PP and PET film waste/trims (one type at a time) are processed depending on material type & quantity.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a technology which provides a recycled product that is free from acidic content and is utilized for further film or granules production.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a high output apparatus which is an assembly of sets of equipment assembled in a manner such that metalized film waste/trims are fed into the apparatus and a non-acidic film fluff is obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to recycling of metalized film waste/trims and converting it to usable material. More specifically, the invention relates to a process and apparatus for processing non usable metalized film waste such as trims/sheets of any shape and size to yield a usable material that is free of acidic nature.
In a main embodiment, the present invention provides an environment friendly, economically viable and time saving process of recycling metalized waste films/trims wherein the metalized waste/trims are processed by converting it into fluff form, treating with chemicals, water washed and finally dried to obtain final fluff (non-acidic/neutralized in nature) which is processed further to produce re-processed granules (RPG) used for film production or other moulding purposes, etc. Therefore, the stage-wise process of recycling/reprocessing metalized waste films/trims comprises the steps of: shredding/pulverizing metalized film waste/trims by converting it into fluff form; processing the fluff in the first stage i.e. de-metalizing stage to obtain a de-metalized fluff; processing the de-metalized fluff in the second stage i.e. neutralizing stage to obtain a non-acidic (neutral) fluff; processing the non-acidic (neutral) fluff in the third stage i.e. washing stage to obtain a washed and soaked fluff followed by drying the washed and soaked fluff to obtain de-metalized (recycled) fluff.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides an apparatus for recycling/re-processing metalized film waste/trims in an assembly of sets of equipment to yield a non-acidic de-metalized (recycled) fluff. Therefore, the apparatus for recycling metalized film/trim waste comprises of: at least one grinder for shredding/pulverizing metalized waste/trims into fluff; at least one blower for conveying fluff into at least one tank; and a plurality of set of processing units for material processing at different stages; wherein the processing unit consists of at least one tank with screw, floaters & belt for processing fluff; screw conveyors for material conveying, friction washers with cyclone for chemical soaking and fines collection and a screw conveyor for material transfer/conveying to another tank.
Therefore, the present invention provides an easily adoptable and economical process and apparatus for recycling metalized trims/sheets of any shape and size by converting it to fluff form. Said apparatus process trims and films in fluff form and final product i.e. de-metalized (recycled) fluff is non-acidic in nature. The recycled metalized film waste/trim is further re-processed in to granules (RPG). The process provided in present invention (de-metalized process) is completely a non-acidic &economical process with higher output as required.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An understanding of the process and apparatus of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the following drawings:
Fig. 1 is a flow diagram to describe the process of recycling/reprocessing metalized film waste/trims according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the apparatus for recycling/reprocessing metalized film waste/trims according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the processing unit for stage-wise processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an environment friendly, economically viable and time saving process of recycling/reprocessing metalized waste films/trims wherein the metalized waste/trims are processed by converting it into fluff form, treating with chemicals, water washed and finally dried to obtain final fluff that is non-acidic in nature due to neutralization, which is then processed further to produce re-processed granules (RPG) which are used for film production or other moulding purposes, etc.
Fig. 1 describes the flow diagram for the process of recycling/reprocessing metalized film waste/trims. Said process for recycling/reprocessing metalized waste films/trims comprises the steps of: shredding/pulverizing metalized film waste/trims by converting it into fluff form; which is then processed stage wise as follows:
First stage: The metalized fluff is dipped in a tank (tank 1) containing water diluted (aqueous) chemical solution INK1 at a concentration level between 2% to 6% in order to de-metalize the fluff. It is then conveyed through screw conveyor to a friction washer for soaking and removing excess chemical INK1. The excess chemical soaked/retrieved from screw conveyor & friction washer gets stored in a collection tank and is pumped backed into the tank 1 whenever level of chemical in tank dips down. The fluff is then conveyed through cyclone &screw conveyor in another tank (tank 2) to undergo second stage processing.
Second stage: The de-metalized fluff is dipped in tank (tank 2) containing water diluted (aqueous) chemical solution INK1A at a concentration level between 3% to 8% in order to chemically neutralize the fluff and turn it non-acidic. It is then conveyed through screw conveyor to a friction washer for soaking and simultaneously removing excess chemical INK1A. The excess chemical soaked/retrieved from screw conveyor & friction washer gets stored in a separate collection tank and is pumped backed into the tank 2 whenever level of chemical in tank dips down. The non-acidic fluff is then conveyed through cyclone & screw conveyor in next tank (tank 3) to undergo third stage processing.
Third stage: The non-acidic de-metalized fluff is dipped in tank (tank 3) containing water in order to wash the fluff. It is then conveyed through screw conveyor to a friction washer for soaking and simultaneously removing excess water. The excess water soaked/retrieved from screw conveyor & friction washer gets dispersed to drain and fresh water is pumped into tank 3 whenever level of water in tank dips down. The non-acidic de-metalized fluff is then conveyed through cyclone & screw conveyor to next stage/equipment i.e. dryer to undergo further processing.
The washed fluff is then dried thoroughly through a horizontal dryer and then with hot air to obtain recycled de-metalized fluff, which is then conveyed to storage area through pipe & blowers and stored in bags for further processing.
In processing the fluff during first, second and third stage, the fluff in each stage is dipped for preferably 1-2 minutes (in tanks) and then soaked (in friction washer) for about 10-15 seconds respectively depending on RPM of friction washer rotor.
The speed of material flow in tank is adjusted through VFD control or gear motors attached with a screw, floaters & belt in each tank.
The chemical INK1 used in first stage of processing is caustic lye with preferably 40% available concentration and required concentration for material processing is adjusted accordingly. And, the chemical INK1A used in second stage of processing is acetic acid with 98% available concentration and required concentration for material processing is adjusted accordingly.
While processing the fluff in first stage using INK1 i.e. caustic lye, the caustic lye reacts with aluminium and form aluminium hydroxide as shown in chemical equation (1) below:
Al + 3 H2O + Na OH = Na+ Al (OH)4 + 1.5 (H2) (1)
The aluminium in first stage of processing thus gets collected in tank bottom and recovered by further processing.
Further, while processing the de-metalized fluff in second stage using INK1A i.e. acetic acid, the caustic layer or acidic layer on de-metalized fluff gets neutralized by acetic acid as shown in chemical equation (2) given below:
Na OH + CH3COOH + H2O= CH3COONa + 2 H2O (2)
Therefore, as per the process of recycling/reprocessing metalized film waste/trims in the present invention, the usable output quantity or recycled metalized film waste recovered is in the range of 96-99%. Table 1 shows trial processing at different concentrations resulting in yield of usable materials. All the trials are taken at different concentration levels ranging from 2-20%. It is observed that the usable output quantity or recycled metalized film waste recovered is 98% with INK1 quantity ranging from 10-20% and INK1A quantity ranging from 8-30% with dipping duration for INK1 ranging from 10-60 seconds,INK1A ranging from 30-90 seconds and dipping duration in water ranges from 120-180 seconds. The processing time ranges from 3-5.5 minutes. The excess water is removed through mesh and the material is dried manually with the help of blower, heating surface, natural sunlight etc. to remove moisture.

TABLE 1
Trial Processing
Batch
No. Input
quantity
(kg) Usable
output
quantity
(kg) INK1
quantity
(Litre) INK 1A
quantity
(Litre) Dipping
duration
in INK1
(Sec) Dipping
duration
in INK1A
(Sec) Dipping
duration
in Water
(Sec)
1 1 0.98 0.2 0.3 30 50 120
2 10 9.8 2 2 60 90 180
3 50 49 5 4 10 30 150
4 200 196 20 16 20 40 120

Fig 2. describes block diagram of the apparatus for recycling/reprocessing metalized film waste/trims. The apparatus 100 for recycling metalized film waste has one grinder 102 to receive and shred/pulverize a batch of metalized film waste/trims into fluff; at least one blower 104 for conveying fluff to at least one processing unit 106; a plurality of processing units 106 for processing the fluff at different stages. Apparatus has at least one tank 108 with floaters 112 and a set of belt & internal screw 109 for conveying & rotating material inside tank; at least one screw conveyor 110 for conveying the processed fluff from said tank 108 to said friction washer 114 with cyclone 116; at least one friction washer 114 with cyclone 116 to receive the processed fluff from said tank 108 for soaking and removing excess solvent and at least one screw conveyor 117receives the fluff from cyclone 116 and convey it to another tank (for next stage of processing). The quantity of floaters 112 depends on length of tank. The apparatus further has at least one dryer 118 and cyclone 120 receive the processed fluff from at least one processing unit 106 through a screw conveyor 117 (of unit 106) for drying and obtaining the recycled de-metalized fluff; at least one blower 126 with heater box 128 for conveying the de-metalized fluff to said storage area cyclone 124 through a transferring pipe 130; at least one cyclone 124 in storage area for bagging & storing of de-metalized fluff; the grinder 102 used is preferably a centrifugal grinder and the dryer 118 is preferably a horizontal dryer. One more dryer (centrifugal vertical dryer 132) is used for drying fines collected from friction washer tray. Friction washer generates fines during material soaking process and these fines are also 100% usable material. All equipment gets controlled through electrical panel 134.The components of the apparatus are preferably made of stainless steel (SS 304/SS 316) to ensure corrosion free and high strength apparatus.
Fig. 3 describes the block diagram of processing unit 106 for stage-wise processing during stage first, second and third. A processing unit 106 for processing the fluff at different stages comprises at least one tank 108 with floaters 112 (quantity of floaters depends on length of tank) and a set of belt & internal screw 109 for conveying & rotating material inside tank; at least one screw conveyor 110 for conveying the processed fluff from said tank 108 to said friction washer 114 with cyclone 116; at least one friction washer 114 with cyclone 116 to receive the processed fluff from said tank 108 for soaking and removing excess solvent and at least one screw conveyor 117 receives the fluff from cyclone 116 and convey it to another tank for next stage of processing.
Therefore, the present invention provides an easily adoptable, economical and environment friendly process as there is no air pollution; and apparatus for recycling metalized trims/sheets of any shape and size by converting it into fluff form. The recycled/reprocessed metalized film waste/trims are de-metalized and non-acidic in nature. The metal is recovered after further processing of tank 1 solution collected during cleaning/change over of material like from PP to PET and vice versa. Also, the chemical solutions (INK1 & INK1A) used for processing of fluff is used for many batches/lots continuously simply by topping up of chemical & water consumed during process and excess chemical drained during process can be pumped back to respective tanks whenever required from collection tanks. Wastage of chemical, water & material in this complete process is minimal/negligible.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forth herein will readily occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

We claim:
1. A process for recycling non-usable metalized film waste comprising the steps of:
a) shredding/pulverizing metalized film waste/trims to obtain a fluff form;
b) processing the fluff obtained in step a) in a first stage to obtain a de-metalized fluff;
c) processing the de-metalized fluff obtained in step b) in a second stage to obtain a non-acidic fluff;
d) processing the non-acidic fluff obtained in step c) in a third stage to obtain a washed and soaked fluff; and
e) drying the washed and soaked fluff obtained in step d) to obtain recycled metalized film waste;
wherein,
the recycled metalized film waste obtained lies in the range of 96-99%; and
the process of recycling the non-usable metalized film takes a processing time in the range of 3-5.5 minutes.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein, processing the fluff in a first stage to obtain a de-metalized fluff as given in step (b) comprising the steps of:
a) dipping the metalized fluff for a predefined duration in a tank (108) containing a water diluted chemical solution INK1 of predefined concentration to obtain the de-metalized fluff;
b) conveying the de-metalized fluff obtained in step a) through screw conveyor (110) to a friction washer (114) for soaking and removing excess chemical INK1 and obtain a soaked de-metalized fluff; and
c) conveying the soaked de-metalized fluff obtained in step b) to a tank (108) for second stage processing.

3. The process as claimed in claim 2, wherein, the chemical solution INK1 is caustic lye of predefined concentration lying in the range of 2-6 % and predefined time for dipping in INK1 is ranging from 10-60 seconds.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein, processing the de-metalized fluff in a second stage to obtain a non-acidic fluff given in step c) comprising the steps of:
a) dipping the de-metalized fluff for a predefined duration in a tank (108) containing a water diluted chemical solution INK1A of predefined concentration to obtain a non-acidic fluff;
b) conveying the non acidic fluff obtained in step a) to a friction washer (114) for soaking the non-acidic fluff and removing excess chemical INK1A; and
c) conveying the soaked non-acidic fluff obtained in step b) to a tank (108) for third stage processing.

5. The process as claimed in claim 4, wherein, the chemical solution INK1A is acetic acid of predefined concentration lying in the range of 3-8 % and predefined time for dipping in INK1A is ranging from 30-90 seconds.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein, processing the non-acidic fluff obtained in step c) in a third stage to obtain a washed and soaked fluff given in step d) comprising the steps of:
a) dipping the non-acidic fluff for a predefined time in a tank (108) containing water to obtain washed fluff; and
b) conveying the washed fluff obtained in step a) through screw conveyor (110) to a friction washer for soaking and removing excess water to obtain the soaked fluff.

7. The process as claimed in claim 6, wherein, the predefined time for dipping in tank containing water ranges from 120-180 seconds.