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The New Wave! Plastic Recycling in the Banking Industry

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Plastic Recycling in the Banking Industry

Taking back some of the plastic that litters our planet and re-using it for Banking Cards is a small but positive step in addressing increasing environmental concerns.

 

Processing and manufacturing cards using reclaimed materials is not without it’s challenges. The characteristics of these materials are different, with more variability than ‘virgin’ polymers such as PVC and PC. This has led to an element of blending or compositing – mixing reclaimed and virgin materials to get an acceptable result or sandwiching the reclaimed material between thin layers of fresh polymer.

 

This is akin the common claim of “80% recyclable” or “largely recyclable” – not perfect, but a step in the right direction.

 

The aim is to create a product with the familiar Credit Card look and feel, but with as much reclaimed material inside that the manufacturing process can manage, while also bearing in mind, Credit cards are normally required to have at least a three-year life, so the quality standards and durability must be maintained.

 

One of the key areas affected is the cutting of the cards – the Credit Card shape and feel is distinctive – pick up a card that’s stiffer (polycarbonate) or heavier (metal) and you will immediately notice the difference. The same applies to the edges – the “classic” PVC Credit Card has a smooth cut feel and edges are that rough or uneven, even slightly, stand out. Banks who consider the Card as one of the key connections to clients do not want an inferior impression.

 

Reclaimed materials are fundamentally harder to cut than say Virgin PVC – they need different tooling and cutting parameters to maintain a finish that is close to customer expectation.

 

However, the reward for taking back and reprocessing some of these dumped plastics (on their way to the Oceans in many cases), is that response amongst cards users is very positive. Most people view a card from recycled plastic as positive, wishing to associate with the intent behind the initiative and in many cases willing to pay for that.

 

So next time you use a card it may just contain a little plastic that avoided being an extra on one of David Attenborough’s documentaries…

 

In providing some of the key technology behind the manufacture of plastic cards Oasys have been working to adapt and develop its machines to suit the ‘New Wave’ of upcycled cards and now provides specific versions of Assembly, Lamination and Cutting systems for recycled and reclaimed plastics – for further details contact Guy or Elliot on sales@oasys.uk.com.

The Card Sandwich Conundrum: How Many Layers Are Too Many?

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Credit cards and smartcards used to be like BLTs, consisting of printed card images on sheets with three or four layers. Now they are more like super club sandwiches with eight, nine or even 10 layers—particularly in the identification credential arena.

Identity credentials, such as ePassport pages and ID cards, have security features contained in the layers of their structure. As the number of security features increases, the layer count increases. So what?

These layers need to be in a certain order, orientation and accurately aligned—all of which can make the assembly process rather slow.

A person can typically assemble the four layers that make up a typical bank card sheet (set) in the correct order and orientation in around 30 seconds (without taking accuracy into account). So, based on a typical card sheet (48 cards to view), the simplest card structures can be assembled at rate of around 5,000 cards per hour.

Card production systems typically need to produce five to 10 times that amount. So, if assembly is not to become the bottleneck in the process, five to 10 people per shift would be required for that single stage of production.

Increasing the number of layers to eight (that’s one big sandwich!) takes more than twice as long. That’s before accuracy, mistakes and scrap are taken into account. You can now start to see the issue.

 

Assembling the ‘Super Sandwich’

More layers—holographic layers, laserable layers, antenna layers and window structures to name a few—mean more functionality and more security in ID products. Assembling all these layers accurately slows the assembly process down. So, how does manufacturing technology keep up and how many layers are too many?

At this level of complexity, automatic assembly/collation is the only practical solution as ID and smartcard-style products require accurate alignment and a high level of consistency. ID cards or licences with variations are always subject to the question, “Is this genuine?” At the same time, many millions of cards or passports need to be issued within a particular timescale to meet national rollouts.

 

The ‘Super Sandwich’ Assembly System

A modern automatic assembly system is typically six to 12 times faster than manual collation with a much higher yield. Automatic machines that assemble card and ID sandwiches (collation systems) have been around for a while, but recent advancements have considerably improved their speed and accuracy.

Like any sandwich, the layers vary in thickness and consistency. The layers in ID card structures have become much more challenging and require a new level of automated technology to assemble them reliably and fast. There are three main challenges:

  1. Alignment: As the number of layers increases, “drift” occurs. Whereby the more layers that are added, the greater the overall error in the set/stack. As you layer your sandwich, it inevitably starts to lean to one side. This happens when each layer is not stacked correctly on the previous layer.
  1. Material: Different layers need different alignment solutions. For example, registering (aligning) the position of a transparent hologram needs a different sensor than positioning a buried RFID antenna layer that you can’t actually see.
  1. Thickness: The sandwich in this case must also be within ISO standard thickness. And so, the more layers there are, the thinner each layer will need to be; 25 microns is now not uncommon. This thickness is notably harder to feed, register and position with the same accuracy, speed and consistency. Try picking up a very finely sliced piece of onion without it tearing, folding or breaking up!

These challenges have mostly been overcome with the advancements of automated collation systems using a combination of print, induction and optical sensing systems.

 

How to Increase Layer Count

Having a machine that handles eight to 10 different sandwich layers simultaneously is possible, but it is not practical for most security printers. There are more practical ways to handle the “super sandwiches” and increase the system’s flexibility.

One way around this issue is to run sub-assemblies in which you assemble two to four layers in a “first run” process and then run them back through the machine as a “single” layer in combination with more outer layers to complete the build. Handling a project this way, the system can cope with more layers when necessary but can still be small enough to carry out more standard card assembly runs (four to six layers). Additional technology is needed to enable this process to work successfully and maintain quality and accuracy throughout the whole layer count. This is where state-of-the-art ID and card “sandwich making” is these days.

So, maybe spare a thought the next time you “tap and go” while buying your lunch—the card you use may have more layers than the club sandwich you just bought.

 

Author: Elliot Lamb – OASYS Technologies (08/02/2021)

New Sales Manager Joins the Oasys Team!

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We are pleased to welcome a new member to the Team at Oasys

We would like to welcome Guy Boomer to Oasys Technologies fulfilling the role of Sales Manager!

Coming from a bespoke engineering background and having seen great success across an array of industries and multi-million-pound CAPEX projects; Guy is a great addition to our expanding team.

You can contact guy on +44 1767 600232 or sales@oasys.uk.com

Guy says:

“I am delighted to join the team here in Biggleswade and I am really looking forward to getting to grips with the innovative machines and solutions.

Despite the “virus that cannot be named” still prevailing; Oasys have continued to serve its customers throughout. Testament to the fact that our clients are at the very heart of what we do.

Feel free to contact me at the office or join me on LinkedIn for regular updates on what we do here at Oasys and the new solutions we develop.”