In spring 2025, Tana introduced the new TANA Hammerhead shredder, capable of shredding large amounts of waste quickly and reliably. Its most significant technical difference from the TANA Shark shredder is a faster rotor, rotating at 40 revolutions per minute. This allows especially volume-based, relatively uniform waste fractions to be shredded 30–50% faster than before. Such fractions include construction waste, green waste, or plastic waste. Thus, Finland’s first TANA Hammerhead was put into use at Kesrec Oy, which specializes in plastic recycling. This pioneering company has long trusted the durability and performance of TANA products, especially the Shark models, so now it was time to increase throughput capacity with the new Hammerhead.
More equipment for growing operations
Kesrec Oy from Finland has been involved in the circular economy since 2008, and in 2016 the company started plastic recycling production. In ten years, operations have grown from a small starting point to a large-scale business. For example, the company recently decided to invest in a second machine, a new TANA Hammerhead shredder, alongside the previously used TANA Shark. The brand is already familiar to Kesrec, as the newest machine, which started work in April 2026, is the fourth Finnish-made TANA product at the facility.
Plastic recycling here means that Kesrec receives and shreds plastic waste and also granulates it for reuse as raw material for the plastics industry. In addition, the company manufactures its own products from 100% recycled plastic, such as plinth boards, drainage mats, and drip irrigation pipes. All this takes place at their own facility in Kuortane.
“90% of the plastic arriving for recycling is used: IBC containers, plastic pipes, barrels, buckets, pallets, waste bins, and so on,” lists Kesrec Oy’s production manager Jarno Myllymäki. “The rest is waste from the plastics industry, and from here it goes back into circulation as granulate for industry,” he continues. The most common materials are PP, LDPE, LLDPE, and HDPE.
The material challenges the shredder
The amount of plastic in the world is not decreasing, but its recycling is becoming increasingly relevant. This has also been reflected at Kesrec in continuously increasing volumes. Therefore, the investment in a second shredder became timely, especially when a new model with increased capacity entered the market. “Operations have multiplied in recent years. And especially now that we have two granulation machines, more material needs to come in,” says Jarno Myllymäki. “Now we can run two shredders at the same time, and on the other hand, we always have a backup machine if one is not in use,” he adds.
The increased capacity has already been tested with the new machine. According to Myllymäki, the TANA Hammerhead seems to deliver on its promise regarding increased production volume. “The faster-rotating 33-blade rotor seems to handle pretty much the same materials as the Shark, so shredding goes faster. This is important for us, as we don’t have any particular seasonality. We can shred as much as we have time for,” he notes.
The plastic shredded is not the easiest, as the shredder is usually fed with grades specifically designed to withstand impacts, pressure, torsion, tension, and other stresses. The feed often happens by filling the hopper to the brim and leaving the machine to work, so the operation is by no means light. “There are certain materials, such as thick pipes, that are particularly challenging. However, all the TANAs we have used have withstood this use very well,” Myllymäki states.
