We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our website, By clicking "Accept All," you agree to allow cookies to be placed to enhance your browsing experience on this website to show you personalized content and targeted ads, to analyze our website traffic, and to understand where our visitors are coming from. You can manage your cookie settings below. Clicking "Confirm" indicates your agreement to adopt the current settings.
HOME
Blog
In-house Recycling
2 Reasons Why Air-cooled Recycling Extruder Can be Better than Water-cooled Pelletizing
2 Reasons Why Air-cooled Recycling Extruder Can be Better than Water-cooled Pelletizing
Recycling and pelletizing without water.
What is the advantage?
Water-cooled (water-ring pelletizing) recycling extruder is the most common recycling machine in the market for both post-industrial and post-consumer recycling due to their:
- Higher output capacity up to 1,000 kg/hour.
- The ability to process heavily printed, multi-layered, or laminated film waste requires better degassing and filtration.
However, the air-cooled recycling pelletizer can be the better option sometimes, especially for PE plastic film and bag producers who recycle their factory waste in-house.
1. Higher reusability of recycled pellets
The entire recycling process is short and gentle, from direct material feeding (no pre-cutting needed), and extrusion to pelletizing is completely water-free.
The short recycling process without water contamination results in minimal material degradation, which allows you to recycle all the post-industrial scrap into higher-quality pellets. When compared to pellets produced by water-cooled recycling machines, a higher percentage of recycled pellets can be reused in your production lines. This reduces the material costs and improves your profitability.
The completely moisture-free recycled pellets can go immediately back into the film extruders for production, in many cases, up to 100% of recycled pellets can be reused in the production process.
| Model | Material | Output | Consumption | Space |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repro-Air |
HDPE and LDPE film-on-roll and scraps and trim |
40-60 kg/hour (1 ton/day) |
19 kilo watts | Approx. 3.5 M x 3.9 M |
2. Low power consumption. Space-saving.
In addition to saving on water consumption, low energy consumption (only 19kw) and minimal floor space requirement all together reduce the overall operation cost significantly.
While a water-cooled recycling machine usually takes up more space and requires a separate area dedicated to recycling (for setting up water circulation and storage of material waste), the small and compact design of the air-cooled pelletizer allows you to install this machine right next to your extruders or bag making machines, or any corner in your factory.
When and who should consider an air-cooled pelletizing recycling machine?
An air-cooled recycling machine can be the better choice for you if:
- Most of your material is un-printed HDPE/LDPE film waste (film-on-roll, bag cut-offs, or trim waste)
- Limited factory space
- Want to avoid using water during the recycling process
- Generates only 20-30 tons of plastic waste per month
Will this machine be useful if I increase my production capacity in the future?
Although the output capacity is only 40-50 kg/hr for this air-cooled pelletizer, it is still extremely useful even for large-scaled PE film and bag producers. For companies that have several factory locations or large factory areas, the Repro-Air can be placed in one of the factories or a specific factory area focused on recycling only one type of product.
About the Author
Jack Lin
Sales ManagerJack has visited and spoken to hundreds of POLYSTAR machine users around the world over the last 10 years. Having collected practical information on customer feedback and user experiences, he enjoys sharing the advantages and disadvantages of using different types of machines with others, especially coming from the customers' perspectives.