EcoGres® Ecological tableware with SACMI-SAMA’s PCM 150 GREEN/D

The Indústrias Costa Nova project, financed by Portugal 2020, is now up and running. The chosen technology is SACMI-SAMA’s PCM for pressure casting; renowned throughout the market for quality, reliability and low energy consumption. Production capacity increased by up to 90% thanks to the double mobile crossbar and additional mould support plate.
EcoGres® is the project co-financed by Portugal 2020 to create a line of tableware products made out of waste/byproducts from ceramic and non-ceramic industries. The partner is SACMI-SAMA who supplied Indústrias Costa Nova (Portugal) with its PCM 150 GREEN/D pressure casting technology. In the configuration supplied, this highly efficient solution makes it possible to run two pressing units at the same time meaning an increase in production output of up to 90%. The mission of Ecogres® is to make stylish and tasteful tableware items starting from recycled materials, especially residues from non-ceramic industries, such as metallic rich residues. The technology supplied by SACMI-SAMA is used to manufacture tableware in fine stoneware made with a body created out of waste/byproducts which, during the firing process at 1.150 °C, become inert. In addition to the work behind the design, to offer a product with a unique and attractive appearance, Indústrias Costa Nova also built a completely new plant at Ilhavo, near the city of Aveiro, which is to be dedicated specifically to the Ecogres® line of products. The result is a wide range of ecological tableware items, which can be manufactured at a high production rate thanks to the unique features of the two PCM 150 GREEN/D supplied. Compared to their standard equivalent, these machines are provided with an additional mould support plate on the mobile crossbar, enabling the press to operate like a battery casting machine with two mobile crossbars (as the crossbar opens, demoulding is performed first from one mould and then the other). In this way it is possible to have two pressing units in production at the same time. One or two moulds can be installed for each plate according to the type of piece to be made. Alternatively, it is possible to run the machine without the additional plate for articles which require a particularly large opening space. High-performance (greater power for large objects), ecological (thanks to the inverter system for optimized power output control), dual operation (double mobile crossbar for simultaneous piece production); these are the special features of the SACMI-SAMA PCM 150 GREEN/D solution, already renowned throughout the market. The technology supplied to Grestel – two presses operating in parallel – is also highly efficient since it is extremely simple to run: just one operator can control both machines, including finishing operations and piece transfer to the dryer. With SACMI-SAMA, Indústrias Costa Nova has carried out one of the first projects in Europe dedicated to the manufacture of tableware using waste/byproducts from ceramic and non-ceramic industries. The circular economy behind the project, in particular the use of wastes from non-ceramic industries, was one of the main reasons for obtaining the Portugal 2020 financial support. Tested and started up in under two weeks, to the full satisfaction of the customer, the new plant is configured to reach a production capacity of up to 40 thousand pieces per month and is specially set up to allow for further expansion.