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Russell Finex Supply Vibrating Screens To Environmental Company To Recycle Emulsion Paints
Over 300 million litres of decorative paint is sold in the UK every year, however an estimated 50 – 60 million litres of this remains unused
Householders over-buy with the intention to use all the paint, however, rarely do so. This paint is then left in sheds and garages for a number of years before eventually being disposed of in landfill.

With a background as an industrial chemist and 25 years experience working in the paint and coatings industry, Keith Harrison (founder of Newlife Paints) developed a process that enabled waste emulsion paint to be converted back to high quality paint, and set up Newlife Paints in 2008.

Once a batch of paint is ready to be processed, it is placed into a large drum. 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, Keith searched for filter suppliers and contacted Russell Finex to discuss his requirements. After a consultation with a Technical Representative, it became apparent that due to the current processing scale a vibrating screen would in fact serve the process better and at a better value.

Russell Finex provided a successful on-site trial, sieving paint through a Russell Compact Sieve. The sieves compact design and ease of use impressed Keith and consequently the machine was rented. “The Compact Sieve is very easy to strip down and clean” says Keith. “In addition, the sieve is clearly built to a high standard and as a result out performed other competitor vibrating screens that we trialled”.

After testing the machine on loan, Newlife Paints decided to buy the machine realising that it was a valuable investment. 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”.

As the company expands, Newlife Paints would like to extend their colour range of decorative and masonry paints from 23 colours to 33 colours, and would also like to start providing different types of paints, including trim paints and fence paints. Keith states “As the business expands, we will need to find a bigger factory as production increases. We look forward to working with Russell Finex as our production expands to explore new sieving and filtration possibilities