The sieve was supplied to UK-based Newlife Paints, which recycles waste emulsion paint. Once a batch of paint is ready to be processed, it is placed into a large drum. Although the batch of paint will be of the same colour, the content will be of different quality as they are likely to be from various manufacturers. It will also contain lumps and other contamination such as bits of plastic, paint brush hairs and cured skins. A specially adapted shear mixer is then used to mix the paint. The paint is homogenized until all the lumps and flakes are reduced, and is then checked for viscosity, total solids, pH levels and resin content. One of the most important parts of the process is to ensure any remaining contamination is removed from the paint. A self made in-line filter was initially being used after mixing. However, the filter blocked frequently and resulted in softer polymer being extruded through the screen, and in turn contaminating the paint. Realising the need to replace this filter, Newlife Paints contacted Russell Finex. The Compact Sieve is mounted onto a stand high enough to fit a 210 litre drum underneath it. The sieve is hand fed and once the paint passes through the sieve, it is pumped into the paint tins. When an entire batch has been processed it is instantly stripped down and cleaned. “As different batches of colours are processed through the same machine, a key benefit for the Compact Sieve is that there is no colour contamination from one batch to the next and cleaning only takes a matter of minutes,” said Keith Harrison, founder of Newlife Paints. “The Compact Sieve is very easy to strip down and clean,” he added.
