Recovery & Upcycling of Materials in Seals Manufacturing with SKF

The reuse of rubber is complex due to its production chemistry, while reusing the metallic inserts after the pre-treatment process is impractical. This often leads to discarding the entire defect product even when the metallic insert still has value, leading to both economic and environmental inefficiency. The solution should be a process to de-bond or separate the molded rubber from the metallic insert, enabling the reuse of the insert without affecting its physical properties. Regarding the rubber compound, a technology that enables the reuse of the rubber scrap generated in different stages of the process is also under exploration. Solving the challenges would considerably reduce the amount of valuable materials going to scrap and the CO2 footprint. The circularity of the production process would be elevated, catering to the demands of the environment and customers.

The solution should address the separation of the moulded rubber from the metallic insert in defect parts during seal production, minimizing valuable materials going to scrap. Additionally, a technology facilitating the reuse of rubber attached, or not, to the insert is also of interest. The solution must consider the initial treatment of the insert and enable retreatment, allowing the insert to be reused in the production line. The solution would ultimately be implemented in SKFs internal seals production sites.

SKF is the world’s largest bearing manufacturer, with 17,000 distributors in 130 countries. As a leader in our field, we can offer you a significant reference for your solution and a chance to make a real impact at a large scale. Collaborating with SKF on developing a solution to reuse materials from defect products allows your solution to contribute to a reduction in the Co2 footprint and an improvement in the circularity of the production process. We want to work together and provide you with valuable learnings from the manufacturing space, enabling your company further opportunities within the industry.