12 April 2007 – German company Schütz is expanding its UK factory to produce a multilayer plastic drum using new technology it has developed.
A new production line is currently being installed at Schütz UK in Worksop, which is due to start operations in the second quarter. The 220-litre tight-head drum, dubbed F1, is made using a continuous extrusion blow-moulding unit producing “several hundreds of thousands of plastic drums” each year, the company said.
The process makes it possible to plasticise three functional drum layers simultaneously. The F1 drum was developed in close collaboration with Basell and is made with Basell’s new multimodal polyethylene, Histif 5431Z.
The Worksop production site has been extended by 1.5 hectares and the production area more than doubled to accommodate the new line for the F1 drums.
Bob Banks, general manager of Schütz UK, said: “A very promising new generation of drums has been developed on the basis of our revolutionary multilayer extrusion process. This applies particularly to the substitution of conventional steel drums. Given the prevailing market requirements, we will in future be concentrating on the three-layer, F1 tight-head drum as well as our standard products. ”
