Recycling PE (polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene) films is a very important environmental process because they are very common in daily life (such as shopping bags, packaging films, agricultural films, bubble films, etc.).

Main methods for recycling PE/PP films:

1. Source sorting and collection: clean PE/PP films are stored separately from other garbage (especially kitchen waste, other plastics, paper).

2. Pretreatment (sorting, cleaning, crushing): the collected films are transported to material recovery facilities or special plastic film recycling and processing plants.

PE PP film washing line: large pieces of film are broken into smaller pieces (flakes) to increase the surface area for easy cleaning. Use hot water and detergent to stir and rub vigorously in the washing tank or washing line to remove residual dirt, oil stains, glue, printing ink, etc. There are usually multiple levels of washing (pre-wash, main wash, rinse). Flotation separation: Separation is based on the difference in density of different plastics (but PE and PP have similar densities, so this method is limited in effect and is mainly used to remove denser impurities such as PET and PVC fragments). The cleaned film is dehydrated by a centrifuge and then sent to a hot air drying system for thorough drying.

3. PE PP film granulation line: The dried and clean PE or PP fragments are fed into the extruder, and the pure plastic after melt filtration is extruded through the die head, then cooled in a water tank, and then cut into uniform recycled plastic particles by a pelletizer.

4. Recycling and reuse: The manufactured PE and PP particles can be used for garbage bags, shopping bags, industrial packaging films, shrink films, express bags, bubble films, etc.

Things to note during recycling:

Low density/large volume: High transportation and storage costs. Before recycling, it is usually necessary to compact and pack into high-density bales.

Easy to wrap: It is easy to wrap around machine parts in recycling equipment, requiring special crushing and conveying equipment design.

Composite film: Many packaging films are multi-layer composite structures of PE/PP and other materials (such as PET, PA, aluminum foil, paper). This material is extremely difficult to separate by conventional physical recycling methods and is usually considered non-recyclable or requires special technology (such as chemical recycling, solvent recycling).

Printing ink: Difficult to remove, affecting the color (usually only black or dark) and purity of recycled particles.

Degraded performance: The performance of recycled materials (especially mechanical properties and transparency) is usually lower than that of new materials, and may contain odor. This limits its application in high-demand fields. Modification technology is the key to increasing value.

Why Choose Purui Machinery:

With over 25+ years of expertise and a footprint in over 100 countries, Purui Machinery continues to lead the way in plastic regeneration.

Purui Machinery is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the R&D and manufacturing of plastic recycling machinery. Its product portfolio includes plastic pelletizing lines, washing lines, and crushing equipment. Purui is dedicated to providing global customers with the most efficient, reliable, and intelligent plastic regeneration systems.

Contact Us to Get Your Customized Recycling Solution:

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