Black charcoal – "green" garden trowels
Visitors to the Tal X garden show in Freudenstadt and Baiersbronn had the opportunity to learn everything there is to know about wood and plant-based charcoal. ARBURG was involved as a sponsor, delivering fascinating presentations and showcasing an exhibit in a specially constructed glass pavilion. In the pavilion, an energy-efficient ALLROUNDER 470 E GOLDEN ELECTRIC electric injection moulding machine demonstrated how traditional craftsmanship and state-of-the-art machine technology go hand in hand. During the themed week, it produced more than 3,500 garden trowels live, which visitors were able to take home with them. A particularly sustainable material consisting of equal parts recycled polypropylene (PP) and a substance known as "biochar" was used. This CO2-negative material, consisting of 50 per cent biochar, is produced by a startup called Carbonauten. Charcoal maker Thomas Faißt also gave a live demonstration of how this biochar is produced during the themed week. The raw material is plant waste such as waste wood, damaged wood and wood chips. This is pyrolysed, i.e. burned at high temperatures without oxygen. To finally turn this into injection-mouldable granules, the biochar is ground into powder, mixed with recycled polymers, for example, and compounded into injection-mouldable granules.