A plastic recycling machine line is a connected system for size reduction, washing, drying and pelletizing, selected by material, contamination level and the output you plan to sell.
Open the station first, then the model. The five entries below run in the order of a working recycling line, so you can start from the material problem you actually have instead of a list of machine names.
If you already know the stage you need, open it below. If you are still deciding the whole route, start from the plastic recycling machine line guide instead, because material condition settles the machine list before any model number does.
A recycling line is not a row of machines. Each station is there to take one problem out of the material, and those problems arrive in a fixed order on the factory floor. Find the first row below that describes what you receive: that is where your line has to start.
What arrivesWhat has to be removedStation that removes it
That order is what separates recycling equipment from clean-input machinery such as filling lines. The same nominal capacity can need a very short dry route or a long wash route, and both can be technically correct, because what decides the route is the condition of the material rather than the tonnage written on the enquiry.
Most projects reach an equipment supplier before a model number exists. What the buyer does know is the material, the contamination problem, the output a customer will accept and a rough throughput. Those four facts already rule out most of the catalogue, which is why they are worth settling before anyone compares rotor sizes.
Mass balance
One tonne enters,not one tonnesells
The planning range below is a feasibility screen for dirty post-consumer streams, not a guaranteed BKL output. Use a wash trial for the final yield.
1,000 kgdirty intake620-750 kgplanning output
Saleable material250-380 kg leaves as water, dirt, labels and fines
Every unit in this bay removes one thing. That is why the machine list is decided before the price.
Where the missing weight goes
Procurement usually opens with capacity. In recycling, capacity answers only half the question. A tonne of clean factory offcut and a tonne of muddy film occupy different volumes, carry different water, load the knives differently and leave very different saleable output at the end of the line.
Every station either protects the machine after it or protects the value of what you sell. If your stream does not contain the problem a station removes, that station may be unnecessary. If it does contain the problem, skipping the station moves the cost somewhere else: buyer rejection, downtime, wastewater load or pellet quality.
The output is a range rather than a single yield because dirty post-consumer material loses weight through water, labels, organics, fines and non-plastic solids, while clean factory scrap behaves very differently. Use it to scope the first engineering conversation, then confirm the real balance with a wash trial on your own material.
Water behaves the same way. Our records give water demand as m³/h for a named capacity and material, not as a universal figure per tonne. Ask any supplier for the number against your own throughput and your own feedstock; a water figure quoted without those two facts looks precise and tells you very little.
Same kg/h, different scope
Capacitydoes not decide the whole line
Both columns below are quoted at the same one tonne per hour. The station list is the only thing that changes, and it changes because of the dirt.
Working stationRoute A · Clean factory scrap2 required
Two working stations can be enough
Route B · Post-consumer film or mixed waste8 required
Eight stations may be the real scope
ShredderNot neededRequired
Pre-washNot neededRequired
Sink-float tankNot neededRequired
Crusher or granulatorRequiredOptional
Hot washNot neededRequired
Friction washerNot neededRequired
SqueezerNot neededRequired
Thermal dryingNot neededRequired
Pelletizing machineRequiredRequired
This is quoting logic rather than a price promise. The same kg/h target can be a short dry route or a long wet route, because contamination sets the scope before anyone calculates a price.
Clean offcut is known, dry and close to a workable size, so it is usually limited by steady feeding and melt filtration. Muddy film reverses that: light, bulky, folded, wet and often carrying non-plastic material, it can demand pre-washing before the blades, density separation before hot washing and squeezing before thermal drying is economical. When you compare suppliers, compare the station list before the price, because a shorter list is usually a cheaper quotation for a different job rather than a better price for the same one.
All listed machines, ordered byfactory stage
Every machine we currently build, listed in the order the stations appear on a factory floor rather than alphabetically.
A model page will tell you motor power, rotor size, screen aperture or screw diameter. It will not tell you whether the station before it can feed steadily, whether the material is dry enough to enter it, or whether the output will pass your buyer's inspection. Those limits belong to the stage, not to the machine.
So read each model next to its stage. A crusher goes with a screen-size decision, a dryer with a moisture limit, a pelletizer with bulk density and melt filtration. When you send an enquiry from here, describe the material problem first and name the model second, and the reply comes back with a configuration instead of a question.
The fastest quotations are not the ones that start with model names. They start with enough material evidence to remove the wrong machines from the list.
01Material photos and a short videoShow whether it arrives loose, baled, wet, oily, dusty, mixed, or already washed.
02Target output and buyer requirementWashed flake, regrind, pellet and fibre-grade flake need different controls.
03Expected capacity and operating hourskg/h matters only after material condition is known.
04Utilities and factory limitsWater, power, floor space and wastewater treatment can remove options before model selection.
A simple phone video is often more useful than a long written specification. It shows whether material bridges in a hopper, whether fines are already present, whether water is free on the surface or trapped in film folds, and whether metal, glass or paper has to be separated before the main machine sees the load.
Send the material
Tell us what arrives, not which model you guessed
If you are not sure which category to open first, send the waste stream. We will map it to the shortest workable equipment route before quoting models.
01Photos of the intake. Bale, flake, drums, film roll or mixed scrap tells us more than a model name.
02Target output. Washed flake, regrind, pellet, or just one station inserted into an existing line.
03Capacity and dirt level. The same kg/h can mean two stations or eight stations depending on contamination.
Send Us a MessageEngineering reply within one working day
Before you enquire
Equipment directoryquestions
The questions our engineers are asked most often before a machine list is agreed. If yours is not here, describe the waste stream and we will answer it directly.
Should I buy a complete line or one machine first?
If the upstream and downstream boundaries are still open, design the line first. If you already run a stable line and have one bottleneck, a single machine can be quoted from four figures: feed size, discharge size, moisture target and capacity.
I only know my material. Which category should I open?
Follow the material, not the machine name. Bales, drums, pipe and pallets start at a shredder. Already-opened material that is too coarse goes to a crusher or granulator. Anything carrying soil, labels, glue or oil needs a washing line before it can be sold as flake or turned into pellet.
Can I skip washing if the material will be pelletized?
Clean factory scrap often can. Post-consumer material usually cannot, because moisture, glue, labels, sand and fines do not disappear in the extruder. They come back as pellet defects, screen changes and filtration load.
Two suppliers quoted very different machine lists for the same output. Why?
Almost always because they assumed different feedstock. A shorter list assumes cleaner, drier, smaller material than a longer one. Before comparing prices, compare the station lists and ask each supplier which contamination level the quotation is based on. The cost guide sets out which quotation lines are machines, which are utilities and which are wear items.
Can BKL machines be added to a line built by another supplier?
Yes, and it is a common request. What we need is the interface: discharge size and form from the machine before, required feed rate and moisture for the machine after, plus available power, floor space and mounting height. Those figures matter more than whose badge is on the neighbouring machine.
What is the difference between a shredder, a crusher and a pelletizer?
A shredder opens bulky material at low speed and high torque. A crusher or granulator cuts the opened material to a screen-controlled flake size. A pelletizer melts, filters and cuts clean material into resin. Most lines use at least two of the three. The line guide works through how they connect.
Keep planning
Relatedplanning guides
This directory answers which machine. These three pages answer the questions that come before and after it: which route, what the quotation covers, and how the stages connect.
If your project is still at the feasibility stage, read the route first and come back here once the stations are settled. If you already know the station and only need a machine size, the model cards above are the shorter path.
01Bulk opening
02Screened flake
03Water and dirt
04Melt and filter
05Only when needed
