I recently visited a potential client in KSA who is interested in investing in a new plastic recycling line. While they have allocated a certain budget, I do not yet have the exact figure.
At present, the client is trying to manage their operations using existing machines, but their setup is not efficient. Their current equipment is not capable of processing certain recyclable materials especially the contaminated ones (where there is some powder in the bags for example), resulting in reduced capacity (Sometimes they have to wash the bags in a separate old line; very basic line) . As a result, they are either stockpiling or refusing materials—even though there is clear market demand for them.
Our target is to propose the most efficient processing line, optimized for the maximum volume of plastic recyclables based on their current input in tons/day.
please find below one of the issues our client is facing with cement contaminated ******bags (25Kg bags).
“The main challenges we faced during processing this type of material is the decontamination of the bags from the cement powder, and this is what we did and why:
• We rinsed each bag alone in a water bath limit the powder spreading during the granulation process.
• We processed the shredded material on a cold washing line (1 sinking tank, and 1 friction washer) further decontaminate the material
• We processed the washed and dried flakes on an ******recycling machine, and we got good results
However, the washing line and the granulator were full of concrete sludge and took us a lot of time to fully clean them.
And we are currently running jumbo ********bags (1,000Kg capacity) which are even more challenging due to their higher thickness and size compared to the cement bags.
We have already tried the below for the Jumbo bags:
• Cutting them into 4-6 pieces on a guillotine
• Shredding them on a Lindner shredder
• Washing them on the same washing line Both processes generated a lot of powder spreading
• Rinsing them then running them on a granulator jammed the granulator many times
• Running them alone on a recycling line without washing Filters were blocked immediately
What we are currently trying, we are still cutting them on the guillotine first, shredding them on the Lindner (trying to deal with the powder spread) and then running them on a MAS washing machine, and below are the results we got (testing before and after powder content aka. Ash test):
Drying Time Ash Test results (before) Ash Test results (After)
Sample 1 90s 17.8% 10.5%
Sample 2 120s 15.71% 10.53%
Sample 3 150s 18% 8.85%
Our reference for the above is the ash test results we obtained after cleaning the crushed ****jumbo bags with water which was: 8.61%”