Processing stretch into granules. Polyethylene recycling is a priority task for industry and the environment. Approximate costs and expected profits

One of the promising areas of business activity at present is polyethylene processing. This type of business is attractive due to the fact that the products of its production are in great demand in many industries, construction, and growing crops. Before investing in a polyethylene processing business, you should carefully familiarize yourself with all the subtleties and nuances of the process, as well as the requirements for the production itself.

Our business assessment:

Starting investment - 1,500,000 rubles.

Market saturation is low.

The difficulty of starting a business is 7/10.

For whom to produce products?

Starting any business, as a rule, is carried out with a preliminary study of demand, and indeed the demand for the final product or service that will be the main activity.

So, polyethylene processing - who will be the main consumer of the product produced by your enterprise? If you are planning to set up the production of polyethylene granules, then the main clients will also be processing plants for the production following products:

• and containers for food and household purposes;
• as packaging – consumer and for packaging any type of product on an industrial scale;
• Decorative elements for equipping the interior and exterior of an apartment and house, garden, vegetable garden, swimming pool;
• Insulating materials for construction;
• For the production of finishing tiles;
• Pipes for organizing irrigation, water supply, heating;
• Cleaning drainage systems;
• Materials for equipping stormwater systems.

So, as can be seen from this list, having established the production of polyethylene granules (and it is produced in the form of such small units), you will be a desirable supplier of raw materials for many small workshops and large enterprises.

Of course, in this case, you should not forget that important indicators for buyers will be the quality of your products, your ability to deliver in the required volume and within a clearly defined time frame, and also that the cost is at the level of existing competitors, and at first and even lower.

What types of products will leave the workshop?

The technology for processing polyethylene, first of all, involves the use of already used material as a raw material - practically your main focus is the so-called recycling of polyethylene waste. It is more often called waste recycling, as a result of which, through transformation, cleaning and change physical condition, a product comes out that can become the basis for the production of a large number of useful things.

The technology for processing polyethylene, which will need to be used when opening production, allows us to produce the following types of products:

Features of production technology

Let's consider how the processing process is carried out. First of all, I would like to immediately note that the processing of polyethylene waste into granules produces a product that is identical in properties to those materials produced from chemical components. In addition, when organizing such a business, it is also important that when processing secondary raw materials, you can count on various subsidies from the state, allocation of funds for opening, and also special profitable terms when paying taxes.

So, polyethylene recycling consists of the following basic operations:

1. Collection of waste for polyethylene and acceptance of raw materials for production. In the best way in this case, you will independently organize a collection point for polyethylene waste, of course, if you have sufficient funds for this.
2. Sorting of received raw materials. It is aimed at separating it from debris and impurities, and also dividing it according to the degree of suitability for recycling.

During the sorting process, waste is divided into types according to the following characteristics:

• By size. The largest types of raw materials are sent for cutting using circulation saws or special band saws;
• By composition - bags, waste plastic film, bottles, trays, etc. are distributed separately;
• If possible, carry out recycling - in practice, from 2 to 10% of collected raw materials must be recycled due to the impossibility of using for industrial purposes;
• By pollution. Basically, all collected raw materials are pre-washed, but excessively dirty ones undergo this operation twice.

Basically, the process of sorting raw materials is done manually - the existing this moment equipment for polyethylene processing does not allow this process to be completely mechanized. Due to this circumstance, it will be necessary to hire workers to carry out such a process. It is very important to carefully sort raw materials, since they get into total weight other substances can significantly change the original quality of the polyethylene produced by your plant. As a result, when you purchase it and continue the production cycle, the finished product may turn out to be of poor quality and it is unlikely that you will be contacted again.

1. Grinding to required size particles. The equipment used for this processing is crushers or shredders;
2. Washing of crushed raw materials using washing machines. At large volume For the production of finished products, installed washing lines are used, in which automatic loading into devices, washing itself, partial drying and transportation for the next stage occur. Washing of raw materials is also an important stage of the entire processing process, since remaining impurities can deteriorate the resulting primary polyethylene granules - they will Low quality, cloudy and foamy.
3. Processing in a centrifuge. Under the influence of centrifugal force in such equipment, the particles directly for production are separated from the remaining elements of dirt and impurities, as well as excess moisture, which is unnecessary during the following technological processing operations.
4. Placing washed and dried raw materials into agglomerators for polyethylene processing. In these devices, due to exposure to high temperatures, the raw materials are melted and sintered. The resulting semi-finished product significantly increases the productivity of subsequent machines along the technological chain and facilitates the main operation of raw material granulation. If a polyethylene processing line is installed in your workshop, then the best option would be to choose one that has a plastic compactor installed, which performs a similar operation to an agglomerator, but ensures a higher quality of the processed product.
5. The granulation process itself. The output from this operation is a secondary polyethylene granule. The process of its formation itself is as follows: the material is transported using a screw to the granulator, where a cycle of heating and cleaning from foreign impurities is carried out mechanically. The resulting mass, which, as a result of exposure to temperatures, heats up to 200 degrees, falls on the molding hole. The hole has thin slits - dies, through which thin streams of hot polymer are formed. At the exit, these streams are quickly cooled, hardened and cut by a mechanical device using sharp knives. Next, cooling occurs with water or a stream of air.
6. Recycled polyethylene granules are packaged in bags according to a predetermined weight. This process can be carried out manually, but it will be much more productive to purchase a special device, which, moreover, ensures the accuracy of measurements and simultaneously carries out the sealing operation.

Special requirements for the premises

A polyethylene processing plant, due to the fact that it is associated with some particularly harmful conditions and increased production hazards, should be located exclusively in industrial areas. In addition to this requirement, the following requirements apply to the production premises:

• Availability of access to the area for unloading raw materials and loading finished products;
• The area of ​​production premises should start at 100 square meters;
• It is necessary to have a sewerage system and a hot and cold water system;
• The room must be equipped good system ventilation;
• It is desirable that the entire building be divided into the following four main zones: reception and storage of raw materials, primary processing(sorting), main processing - a workshop in which the semi-finished product is exposed to pressure and high temperature, an area for storing raw materials and shipping finished products.

Necessary personnel for organizing production

The main workers who will be needed to start the full operation of the workshop and sell finished products are the following:

• Head of the enterprise;
• Accountant. If the production volumes are not too large, then it is possible to combine the functions of an accountant and a manager in one person;
• Production Technologist;
• Maintenance workers technological lines– from 3 people;
• Ancillary workers who perform operations such as unloading raw materials, sorting them, storing finished products and loading them into vehicles for further shipment to suppliers.

Approximate costs and expected profits

How much money will you need to invest in organizing a polyethylene processing plant in order to open a competitive production that will provide you with income for a long period of time?

The main costs, in this case, will be the purchase of equipment, which will cost from 800 thousand rubles and the initial supply of raw materials, in an amount not less than 100 thousand rubles. In general, the total amount of funds that will be needed for opening will be from 1.2 million rubles.

The profitability level of such enterprises averages 15% and allows them to recoup their investments in a period of one to two years. With enough effort and high professionalism of employees, you will be able to further expand production by organizing a workshop for the production of any type of product from the resulting recycled granulate, thus increasing the amount of potential profit.

Why is it important to recycle polyethylene and why is polyethylene interesting for a recycling business?

Polyethylene is the most widely used of all types of plastics. It can be harvested in large quantities at relatively low cost and therefore a recycling business can use economies of scale to reduce costs and increase profits.

In what quantities is polyethylene consumed and what products are made from it?

In Russia, the annual consumption of polyethylene is 1.6-1.7 million tons, a significant part of which is spent on products with short term services, feeding the waste stream.

What is polyethylene?

Polyethylene is a polymer, that is, a material consisting of very long molecules in which homogeneous groups of carbon and hydrogen atoms are connected into chains. Polyethylene has the simplest structure of all polymers. In it, in the center of the chain there are carbon atoms, to which hydrogen atoms are attached.
The structure looks like this

In some places, instead of a hydrogen atom, a carbon atom is attached to the side of the chain, which also forms a chain or branch. Molecules can be branched to varying degrees, and the properties of the material greatly depend on this.

What raw materials is polyethylene made from?

The very name of polyethylene suggests that it is an ethylene polymer, that is, polymer chains consist of identical pieces, the chemical formula of which is C₂H₂ (ethylene). These components are called monomer. In ethylene, each tetravalent carbon atom is connected to two hydrogen atoms and to an adjacent carbon atom, with the latter having a double covalent bond. Therefore, ethylene is also called an unsaturated compound. Compounds with a double bond in chemistry are called olefins, hence common name polyethylene and some other polymers - polyolefins.
So, polyethylene is produced by combining ethylene molecules into chains (polymerization).
In this case, ethylene can be from different sources, depending on which raw material is more accessible to petrochemists in each specific region and in each specific case. The main groups of raw materials are naphtha (a derivative from oil refining), ethane, isolated from natural gas or associated gas, and increasingly, ethylene is now being produced from ethyl alcohol, which can be obtained from many types of plant materials, including ethanol from sugar cane that is now used on a commercial scale.

What determine the properties of polyethylene?

The industry produces many brands of polyethylene, but they all differ mainly in only two parameters. This is the size of the molecules and the degree of their branching. These parameters do not depend on the feedstock from which ethylene is obtained, but depend on the conditions of the polymerization process, pressure in the reactor, temperature, presence and type of catalyst.
The industry learned to make the first polyethylene at high pressure, in which polymerization was initiated by free radicals. This material is now called LDPE, it is characterized by great branching. That is, on each polymer chain there are many side branches, which in turn also have branches consisting of the same chains.
Later, with the help of catalysts, they learned to produce polyethylene at a lower pressure, it is called HDPE. Its molecules are much less branched.
To understand how the branching of molecules affects the properties of a polymer, imagine two panicles. One of them consists of smooth twigs, without side branches. They are packed tightly and the panicle is so tough and durable. The other consists of twigs with side branches. The density is already much less, and it is more pliable and flexible.
In the same way, HDPE, also called high-density polyethylene, and LDPE, called low-density polyethylene, differ. The first material is tougher and its strength is high. The second is plastic, products made from it bend under lower loads.

Is it possible to convert LDPE into HDPE during recycling and vice versa?

No, it’s impossible, the structure and size of molecules are set during synthesis, that is, at the plant where the primary polymer was produced; during recycling, it is little subject to change. However, it is possible to add rigidity to a LDPE material by adding a more rigid HDPE or other material, and it is also possible to add plasticity to a LDPE material by adding LDPE accordingly. This is often done in the manufacture of products from secondary polymers. Mix different types.

What determine the rheological properties of polyethylene and the melt yield strength?

On the size of the molecules. The larger and longer the molecules in a polymer, the less fluid it is. The fluidity of the polymer is measured under load and at elevated temperature.

What types of polyethylene raw materials are available for recycling?

Production waste and consumer waste are available.
Industrial waste is, in most cases, clean and homogeneous, however, in each source there is relatively little of it. a large number of. This is understandable, because production facilities are not designed to produce waste. Frequently recycled industrial waste- this is a relatively simple process, and those who form them increasingly use them themselves after minimal processing, for example, crushing or granulating on a small, simplified granulator.
Large volume but complex in composition consumer waste, that is, waste of used products or packaging. Processing such waste is usually fraught with difficulties; processors must have a large amount of equipment, so economies of scale make processing enterprises relatively large. They collect waste from a variety of sources (landfill and commercial sources).

What polyethylene consumer waste can be recycled?

The following types of polyethylene waste are available on the existing market for secondary raw materials in Russia:

1. Waste films made from low-density polyethylene, including stretch films, collected by sorting from commercial sources - stores, are relatively clean; cleaning them from contaminants does not require washing; filtering the melt in an extruder and degassing is sufficient.
2. Film waste collected from consumer waste requires washing, as it is contaminated, among other things, with food waste.
3. Stretch - collected separately, most often it is linear low-density polyethylene with additives.
4. Blow molded bottles for liquid products and goods - consist of HDPE, require washing and thorough degassing of the melt to remove product residues that are absorbed into the walls of the bottles. Abroad, milk bottles are usually collected separately, but this applies to those countries where a significant percentage of milk is packaged in high-density polyethylene bottles.
5. Canisters can be of different quality depending on what was poured into them before. As written above, recycling oil cans is difficult due to oil residues.
6. Multilayer films, most which is made up of polyethylene - processing such films presents technological difficulties, the description of which is beyond the scope of this article.
7. Cable waste - they often use cross-linked polyethylene, that is, one in which bridges between individual molecules have been deliberately created. Its processing is difficult because the material does not flow at melting temperatures, but only softens. The percentage of gel there is very high.
8. Agricultural film - film that was used in agriculture. It can usually be significantly damaged by photo-oxidative degradation

There are two main methods of processing: mechanical recycling, when the material is used as a polymer for the manufacture of products or other purposes, as well as thermo-chemical recycling, pyrolysis, which results in liquid and gaseous products of thermal destruction of the polymer. Next we will talk about mechanical recycling.
What processes does polyethylene recycling involve?
The main processes are sorting, grinding, washing, drying and agglomeration or granulation. Depending on the feedstock and productivity, the combination of these processes can be different, for example, grinding can be carried out in one stage or in two stages. Also, if the raw materials are collected from relatively clean sources, the washing and drying stage can sometimes be omitted.

What equipment is used for processing?

​Polyethylene waste that has been in contact with products and is contaminated is washed on the washing lines. Typically, a washing line includes the following elements:

​ - Equipment for grinding and giving regular shape to particles. Shredders or crushers. The former are preferable in most cases, as they are more resistant to solid objects such as stones or metals, but shredders are more expensive than crushers. In crushers, the rotor rotation speed is higher; the impact of a solid object can immediately damage the crusher; in especially severe cases, all knives will need to be replaced. But crushers are often made with a pre-cleaning function; for this purpose, water is supplied to them. On high-capacity lines, both a shredder and a crusher are used, that is, grinding is organized in two stages, between which equipment for separating heavy particles must be installed in order to protect the crusher.

​- Equipment for separating heavy particles such as sand, stones, metals and plastics incompatible with polyethylene, such as polyethylene terephthalate, which sinks in ordinary water.
​Two types of equipment are used to separate heavy particles: flotation baths and hydrocyclones. The latter are almost exclusively used in high-capacity lines, for example 2 tons per hour.

- Equipment for intensive cleaning of plastic. For this purpose, friction washers and (or) centifuges are used.

Equipment for extraction is usually centrifuges and screw presses. After mechanical pressing, the moisture content of the films can be from 6 to 12 percent. This may be too much for effective further agglomeration, so mechanical drying is often not limited to.

- Equipment for thermal drying - they, as a rule, organize the movement of plastic particles along with the flow of heated air in labyrinths (long pipes or channels) of different designs. Sometimes final drying is not done in the lines and is left to the agglomeration or granulation stage.

The operation of agglomerators and plastic compactors is based on heating the material mechanically and then clumping and compacting it using various technological methods.

​The operation of the granulator is based on heating the material using electric heaters to melting temperatures, mixing the resulting melt and cleaning it by filtering, pumping out the gases formed during heating and then forming granules by squeezing the melt through dies (matrices with holes) and cutting the resulting strands in one way or another way. (water ring and strand granulators). The advantage of granulators over agglomerators and plastic compactors is that they make it possible to obtain a more reliable product, since mechanical impurities that could remain after the washing line are filtered out on the granulators and impurities of fats or other substances that decompose when heated can be removed by degassing the melt.

​More details about the equipment with examples of lines on the website http://moykaplastica.ru

What is polymer degradation?

During recycling, polymer molecules are inevitably damaged for three reasons. This is, firstly, a mechanical load, for example, in an extruder, when high blood pressure the material is mixed. Secondly, this is heat, which contributes to more active movement of molecules and the bonds between atoms become not as strong as at ordinary temperatures. Thirdly, this is the action of atmospheric oxygen, which, being an active oxidizing agent, tends to oxidize the elements of the polymer chain, hydrogen and carbon. Thus, during recycling, the polymer molecules change, some of them become shorter, breaking into pieces. Every time a polymer chain breaks for one reason or another, a radical is formed, that is, an atom or group of atoms whose valencies are not closed, there is a vacant place on the outer electron cloud. Such radicals are extremely active; they form compounds with neighboring molecules, and damage to a neighboring molecule forms a new radical, which in turn damages another chain. When molecules are cross-linked by separate adhesions, the resulting structure is called a gel. The content of gels in secondary granules changes the mechanical properties, usually not for the better
side.

Why properties recycled polyethylene worse than the primary?

The main culprit for the decrease in properties appears to be oxygen. When destroyed, it not only creates radicals, as described above, but it can also be incorporated into the material, replacing hydrogen and carbon atoms, and oxidize polyethylene. The presence of oxygen atoms in a material changes its properties. Initially, polyethylene is non-polar. This means that it only contains hydrogen and carbon atoms, which have a non-polar bond with each other, because their electronegativity is quite close. That is, they are connected through shared cloud electrons, which is more or less in the middle (in simple words, it’s actually more complicated). But as soon as an atom of oxygen, the second most electronegative element after fluorine, appears nearby, oxygen immediately affects all bonds that are nearby. It polarizes them to some extent. Attracts electrons to itself. This reduces their strength under mechanical stress and reduces the resistance of neighboring bonds to other oxygen atoms, which also tend to snatch and oxidize something from the polymer molecule.
Hence, the important practical knowledge is that the more polyethylene is oxidized (destructed), the faster it oxidizes further and its properties drop even faster. This explains more unsuccessful than successful experiments to improve the properties of recycled plastic by adding unspoiled primary plastic. The secondary, if it has already destroyed, then quickly poisons the primary with its influence, and this is precisely because of oxygen and its magnetic activity in relation to electrons in molecules.

For example, according to the link, an article by Swedish researcher Michael Hamskog (with whom I have worked before), the article concluded that mixing primary polyolefin with secondary polyolefin is ineffective and that adding additives is more effective. which will be discussed below.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...41391005003629

How does the MFI of polyethylene change during recycling?

So the MFR can change both up and down, depending on which process is developing more strongly, shortening or stitching, and this in turn depends on the processing conditions. Most often, shortening of molecules is observed, that is, an increase in fluidity.

How to reduce polymer degradation during recycling?

In order to slow down the destruction, special substances are added to the polymer that can absorb the resulting radicals and do not allow the process to develop according to a chain scenario, when damage to one polymer chain leads to damage to neighboring ones.
Unfortunately, these substances are consumable. That is, over time, their effect weakens and they are already working off. Sometimes, in order to restore the dose of stabilizers, they are added to the polymer during recycling. For example, a composition such as Recyclestab.
In order to minimize destruction, in general it is necessary to minimize the mechanical and thermal loads on the polymer during the recycling process, that is, do not overheat it above the required level, do not use excessive mixing under pressure in the extruder.

How do polymer contaminations affect the properties of the recycled material?

When processing post-consumer waste, contamination is always a major problem. They are acquired from contact with other substances, including the substance that was packaged in polyethylene packaging. Pollution can be superficial or internal.
Thus, oil cans contain some residual amount of these oils in the form surface contamination, but some of the oil is dissolved in the walls of the canister and during recycling, even if the material is well washed, an odor may appear and properties may change recycled polymer due to plasticization of polyethylene with oil (partial dissolution of oil in polyethylene).
This is typical not only for such pronounced substances as oil and detergents, but also for ordinary milk. Bottles made from HDPE that previously contained milk, even after washing, contain in their walls a certain amount of lactic acid, which has dissolved in polyethylene. Odor may occur during processing.
Other contaminants such as sand or soil or pieces of paper also reduce the mechanical properties of the polymer and must be removed.
To remove surface contaminants, washers are used in which the material is thoroughly washed with water in combination with some mechanical forces (friction washers), and dry cleaning units can also be used, for example, those produced by MAS, but the latter do not cope well with sticky contaminants even in cases where There are sticky components.

How to recycle cross-linked polyethylene?

Cross-linked polyethylene is one in which ligaments (bridges) are additionally made between individual macromolecules. This is usually done for those products that are used at elevated temperatures, such as electrical insulation. Such polyethylene can withstand a slightly higher melting point than its melting temperature. So, for example, the cable insulation will not drain, but will only soften. In fact, cross-linked polyethylene is no longer a thermoplastic plastic. It does not melt, as it should, but softens, so it is impossible to process it using conventional methods.
There are two possible approaches to processing cross-linked polyethylene. Firstly, it can be recycled thermal methods, for example, pyrolysis to produce liquid and gaseous products.
Secondly. Theoretically, cross-linked polyethylene can be ground to a particle size smaller than 0.5 mm and used as an additive in conventional polyethylene products. The author worked on this idea for a long time and was already planning to test it in practice, but somehow didn’t get around to it. The difficulty is that cross-linked polyethylene grinds very poorly, so it was not possible to obtain powder from it at a very low price. The estimated price was up to 10 rubles per kilogram. Secondly, it is unclear how cross-linked polyethylene will affect the Melt Yield Strength. Apparently it will reduce PTR, but this needs to be checked.

Probably, the great potential for processing cross-linked polyethylene lies in the development of new methods of grinding it. For example, if you use the natural cold in the Siberian part of the country, then you can probably get a more productive grinding process in conventional mills than has been the case until now. At a low enough cost, this material could compete in the filler market because it has the same density as polyethylene, meaning there would be no increase in the density of granules or products and it would likely have less impact on the properties of the polymer than when compared with mineral fillers. If you are interested in equipment for grinding cross-linked polyethylene, please write to the contacts below.

Where to start a polyethylene recycling project?

From establishing contacts. First of all, we need contacts with waste sorting stations and other sources of recycled polyethylene, then contacts with manufacturers of plastic products who are ready to consider proposals for the use of recycled polyethylene.
Once you have an understanding of the available volume of raw materials and possible sales, you can begin to select equipment and, together with suppliers, design a production line for processing.
​
Information about advanced processing equipment:

​
​ For questions regarding the sale of waste polyethylene, film, bags, substandard products, call
​ +7 916 103 1486
or write mail.ru

FILM RECYCLING IS PROFITABLE, PROMISING AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY!

Demand for recycling polymer waste and at the same time, the production of new film materials increases from year to year. In addition to large factories, for Lately Quite a lot of small ones have opened manufacturing enterprises who need timely recycling of used film. Huge volumes of film waste also provide shopping centers and shops of various profiles. The segment of potential consumers of the product obtained after processing (agglomerate) are companies that are in one way or another engaged in the production of films, as well as various products from non-food polymers. If you build your business on processing film waste, you will be able to work with both their suppliers and consumers of the agglomerate.

What is needed?

Processing does not require large areas and a whole staff of specialists. You can organize this work on your own, even if you have limited space. For these purposes, you will need to purchase a rotary agglomerator - special equipment for processing HDPE (polyethylene). low pressure, LDPE (polyethylene high pressure) and stretch films. Using an agglomerator, you can also process polypropylene bags and big bags, but it all depends on the modification of the equipment.

How does an agglomerator work?

This equipment is used for grinding, washing, drying and agglomerating waste. Depending on the configuration, agglomerators are single- or double-rotor. Structurally, the agglomerator consists of a frame, an electric motor, a housing and a unit with knives attached to the shaft. The operating principle is simple: film waste is loaded into the working chamber, after which it is crushed and sintered. Adding “shock” water allows this mass to cool and polymerize. The output is granules irregular shape(pellets) measuring 3-10 mm.

Depending on the performance of the equipment, it may be necessary to pre-shred the film with crushers before filling it into the chamber. This will allow the use of low-capacity agglomerators for processing. Powerful agglomerators (more than 200-250 kg/hour), as a rule, produce large granules. However, what smaller size agglomerate, the more suitable it is for use as a secondary raw material.

Where is the agglomerate used?

The resulting product can be used both as a secondary raw material for the production of films and for granulation, which also expands opportunities for business development. Film materials are in great demand today in almost all areas, so there will be no shortage of customers for agglomerate.

How much can you earn?

The cost of a budget-class industrial agglomerator ranges from 195,000-370,000 rubles. According to average calculations, the difference in price between film and agglomerate is from 10,000 rubles/t. Let's take as a basis that the profit per kilogram of raw materials is 5 rubles (this figure can be twice as much).

In an hour, a two-rotor agglomerator easily processes 200 kg of raw materials - a total of 1000 rubles. (200 kg x 5 rubles = 1000 rubles/hour). For an 8-hour shift it turns out to be 8,000 rubles. (1000 x 8).

If you work in two shifts, then this is already 16,000 rubles/day (1000 x 16).

For a month (22 working days) the profit will be 352,000 rubles. (16000 x 22).

Thus, in one month you can completely recoup the purchase of equipment and start making a profit the next month.

Spin off

• To organize work and place equipment, large areas are not required, therefore, this is a significant saving on rental costs. You can organize film processing in a warehouse or other suitable premises.
• One or two specialists can work with the agglomerator (depending on the scale of processing and the model of equipment). Special qualifications and special knowledge is also not required. Consequently, the cost of employee wages will also be insignificant.
• When purchasing a high-performance, but at the same time energy-efficient agglomerator, energy costs are also reduced.
• Other operating costs, such as maintenance and replacement of parts, also depend on the quality and reliability of the equipment. Based on this, it is advisable to buy agglomerators from leading manufacturers. Even if the payback period in this case increases, this will be compensated by the absence of regular repair costs.

Bottom line.

Organizing the processing of film materials to produce agglomerate is a stable business that does not depend on seasonality or fluctuations in demand. The demand for processing film and purchasing agglomerate for its production will only grow. Purchasing an agglomerator is a win-win investment with a quick payback and the possibility of further expansion of activities. Subsequently, it will be possible to purchase equipment of a different modification for processing a wider range of materials.

Polyethylene is present everywhere in our lives: polyethylene film and plastic containers are the main packaging material, a huge number of items have a plastic body, the material is used for the production of pipes, containers, building materials, sanitary products, car parts and other equipment, etc. The range of applications of polyethylene is incredibly wide, moreover, the modern market is constantly updated, and new brands of this product appear on sale. polymer material with improved consumer properties.

The relevance of polyethylene recycling is obvious

The most popular plastic in the world has incredible resistance - it is not afraid of the effects of water, alkalis, organic and inorganic acids, chemical solutions of salts, etc. On the one hand, this is good, but on the other hand, it causes a number of problems, the main one of which is the environmental problem. Polyethylene waste causes enormous harm to the environment, because over time the material undergoes thermal aging, slowly decomposing under the influence of sunlight, heat and oxygen, and in the process of its destruction harmful substances are released. chemical substances, polluting, first of all, soil and water. The time for complete decomposition of polyethylene is hundreds of years... It’s even scary to imagine what could happen to our planet during this time. It’s not for nothing that environmentalists are sounding the alarm and trying to prevent a catastrophe.

Of course, limit production various types plastic is not possible, but it is possible and even necessary to rationally organize the work process. We are talking about creating and improving methods for processing polyethylene, thanks to which secondary raw materials receive a new life. Thanks to recycling, plastic waste at polyethylene processing plants is transformed into products and objects without which it is difficult to imagine our daily lives.

Recently, the number of enterprises that are engaged in recycling polyethylene has increased sharply. And it's not just about concern for the environment. Recycling plastic waste- a very profitable and promising line of business. Waste polyethylene and stretch film serve as raw materials for the production of plastic panels, garbage cans, various household and industrial containers for storing and transporting chemical materials, etc. Although, despite the emergence of new processing technologies, the use of recycled polymer raw materials has a number of limitations.

Typically, recycling household waste polyethylene does not cause difficulties. Structure of the materials we use in Everyday life, practically does not change, because their operation is usually short-lived. The service life of industrial polyethylene is much longer, and the impact on it various factors more ambitious. Sun rays and temperature fluctuations have a detrimental effect on the material; moreover, the dust that appears during operation cannot be cleaned. As a result, the raw materials obtained on polyethylene processing lines are not of high quality, which means the scope of their further application is narrowing.

Features of processing

The number of processing cycles and types of products that can be made from polyethylene waste have a number of limitations. The first processing cycle has virtually no effect on the reduction consumer properties new products. However, with each subsequent processing cycle, the properties of polyethylenes decrease, and the raw materials become suitable only for the production of materials whose mechanical properties are not critical for operation.

According to the technology, polyethylene processing consists of several stages:

First, the raw materials must be collected, i.e. polyethylene is separated from other household waste;

The collected polyethylene waste goes into washing machines;

The material is then sent to crushers, where they are crushed;

The process of processing raw materials in a centrifuge allows you to get rid of excess moisture and accidentally remaining solid impurities;

After the next washing, the material enters the drying chamber, where the polyethylene is dried and then undergoes heat treatment.

Recyclable materials are ready for further use and can be sent to production.

Processing equipment

Of course, the process of processing polyethylene involves the use of specialized equipment, which, however, is not very different from the equipment needed for processing plastics. The fully equipped line includes: washing machine, crusher, centrifuge, drying unit, agglomerator, granulator and extruder. In addition, it would be useful to use a conveyor or pneumatic conveyor, which allows you to automate the process of supplying raw materials to the line.

The agglomerator is the device in which polyethylene is processed. As a result of temperature exposure, secondary raw materials are formed - agglomerate, which is transformed into finished products on special machines. For the production of industrial polyethylene, it is recommended to use high-performance agglomerators, the price of which is higher than conventional ones, but the quality is also better.

The process of processing polyethylene into granules is the next stage after preliminary grinding or agglomeration of waste LDPE, HDPE, polystyrene, etc. Granulators can be part of the processing line, but are not a mandatory component of it. Although the sale of recycled polyethylene granules can significantly increase enterprise income and expand the sales market.

Technologies for processing polyethylene waste are improving every year. Recently, cross-linked polyethylene has been in great demand - a material that has improved physical properties and a wider scope of application. It is used to produce heat-shrinkable tubes, gloves, films for food packaging, polymer water pipes, etc. Thanks to cross-linking, the polyethylene material becomes more rigid, and the operating temperature after processing can reach 100 - 120°C.

Polyethylene has excellent performance characteristics, thanks to which the material is widely used in production and in everyday life; naturally, this has led to an increase in the amount of waste in landfills. According to statistics, up to 10% of all household waste in trash cans comes from polyethylene materials.

Waste film do not rot, do not dissolve, do not decompose for decades, emit substances hazardous to the environment, and pollute water and soil. When burned, polyethylene does not burn completely and forms toxic dioxins - dangerous poisons, capable of accumulating in living organisms and tissues, leading to the most dangerous consequences including ulcers, dermatitis and even mutations.

There are various recycling and disposal options furniture film waste. Among them, pyrolysis should be highlighted, which, despite all its positive qualities has not become widespread, since from an economic point of view this method is justified only if there are large sources of raw materials. Practice shows that the most effective method recycling of polyethylene products consists in organizing lines for its reuse.

Recycling allows you to reduce the cost of manufactured products, reduce the cost of raw materials, save resources and make a profit directly from waste.

Types of polyethylene waste

Polyethylene today exists in the most different types and forms, film comes in varying degrees of contamination and readiness for further use in production. There are several groups of experts polyethylene waste:

1) Technological defect.

This category includes from 1 to 10% of all polyethylene waste. Defective products, including film, bottles and other goods directly at production, may not be recycled as returnable raw materials.

2) Homogeneous consumer waste.

3) Waste in landfills.

Waste from production and production that ends up in a landfill household use: bags, film, bottles, etc.

Also, film and polyethylene waste is usually divided into groups according to the degree of preservation and contamination. The most common categories: products with partially lost useful parameters and materials with minor damage.

Waste plastic film in landfills they are mixed with other garbage, because modern techniques processing usually includes two separate stages of work:

• separation of homogeneous materials from waste;
• processing of the resulting polyethylene products.

Types of waste and methods of processing them

The type of raw material, its condition, contamination, uniformity and other individual characteristics determine which stages of the processing process it will go through. In most cases, film and other polyethylene products are sorted, cleaned, shredded, crushed, fractionated, and granulated. Only after this is polyethylene used to create new products.

Before processing, large polyethylene products are cut on special machines and then sent to crushing and grinding machines. Film and other waste is cleaned from contaminants on special washing lines that use powerful chemical solvents that can remove all impurities from polymer waste.

Recycled plastic is characterized by high viscosity, therefore granulation of materials is carried out under the influence of very high temperatures in special devices equipped with grinders, filters and pumps. Powerful granulators make it possible to process a wide variety of polyethylene waste.

How can you use recycled polyethylene?

Film waste and other plastic products can be recycled into a variety of useful products. For example, mixed waste containing large amounts of foreign inorganic and organic elements can be processed using intrusion or casting. These available methods processing makes it possible to create parts for enclosing plastic structures.

Film, disposable bottles and other containers are most often used to re-create the same products. Problems can only arise when working with materials with a highly modified structure; they can only be used to create massive plastic products of low strength.

Any plastic waste can be processed into crumbs used in construction, production of equipment parts and vehicles. Modern car manufacturers are paying more and more attention to recyclable materials and making elements of doors, bumpers and other necessary things from recycled plastic.

With proper organization of recycling processes, it is possible to ensure the yield of secondary raw materials at the level of 70-80% of the initial volume of polyethylene film, PET bottles and other products. Despite the complexity of processing, the direction is actively developing, as it allows organizing efficient waste-free production.