Skip to content
Operators inspecting washed plastic flake on a recycling washing line with friction washers and a dewatering screen

Product changeover questions

What changes between products?

Polymer family, label load, metal and sand content, oil films and incoming moisture change which wash, separate and dry stages belong on the same drawing. A stream that moves from rigid PE/PP crates to film with paper labels also changes screen sizes, friction-washer intensity and how much process water the plant must treat. Catalog throughput in kg/h does not prove the line will hold residual moisture on the buyer’s unsorted mix.

What must be cleaned or replaced?

Screens, friction-washer paddles, hydrocyclone liners, flotation-tank weirs and dryer filters that were sized for a previous polymer. Ask each bidder to list which of those items sit inside the quoted machine and which arrive as separately priced wear kits or water-treatment packages.

How is the first good output verified?

Run a representative mixed sample, then record recovered flake, rejects and fines on an agreed mass basis, plus residual moisture and named contamination tests. Compare two factories only when measurement points sit at the same dryer outlet. Public washing-component pages may list drum diameter in metres and process route as attributes to request; they are not this site’s promised models.

Product changeover questions

A plastic recycling line RFQ is comparable only when changeover items use the same units. Leave a cell blank when the factory must survey the water plant; do not let one bidder assume PE film while another assumes rigid PET bottles.

What changes between products?

Feed form (bale, flake, bottle, film), polymer split and contaminant map decide whether optical sorting sits before wet grinding or after a pre-wash. Duty cycle in hours per day changes tank volumes and dryer connected load in kW even when drum diameter stays constant.

What must be cleaned or replaced?

Process-water circuit, sludge handling and dryer bags if the next lot carries more paper or sand. Those items often sit outside the mechanical line drawing; they still affect first-good flake after a changeover.

How is the first good output verified?

FAT should use the buyer’s mixed sample, not pre-sorted clean flake. Record moisture basis, test method and reject mass so SAT later uses the same numbers. See the contamination-map article for how to describe incoming waste.

Choose a quotation route for this recycling scope

Defined specification

If polymer mix, contaminant map, recovered-fraction target, wash/separate/dry route and residual moisture test are already written, send that pack so factories quote the same envelope. Include three-phase supply, cooling water, footprint in millimetres and whether pelletizing is excluded.

Send requirements

Selection still open

If optical sorting versus extra wet grinding is still undecided, we restate the open items on one RFQ sheet rather than averaging two process routes. Review how sample trials are aligned before treating a brochure kg/h figure as validated output.

Review sourcing steps

Questions buyers ask before requesting quotes

Which procurement scope is covered by plastic recycling line?
Material entering the machine
Name polymer families, labels, metals, sand, oils, moisture and the physical form of the feed. Feedstock description belongs in the brief; it is not yet a factory capability claim.
Required output
State recovered fraction, residual moisture target and contamination tests with units, plus whether throughput is input mass or dried flake. Industry practice treats nominal speed and validated output as different questions.
Duty cycle
Hours per day, expected changeovers and whether the water plant runs continuously. Connected load in kW and supply frequency in Hz should match that schedule, not a brochure idle figure.
Which responsibilities remain with the equipment supplier and buyer?

The buyer owns process data, floor loading, discharge permits and who signs SAT. The supplier owns feasibility against that data, included hardware and which documents it will issue for that serial. This intermediary restates the pack and flags gaps. We do not certify a recycling plant layout. For water-balance measurement points see the acceptance article.

List the interfaces factories must quote against

Discuss Your Requirements