Recycling waste plastic films—particularly heavy post-consumer agricultural greenhouse covers, mulch films, and silages—presents some of the most demanding working conditions in the industry. Unlike clean post-industrial scrap, post-consumer agricultural film waste is heavily contaminated with soil, sand, organic debris, and extremely high moisture levels (often exceeding 10-15% even after heavy washing).
Conventional pelletizing extruders frequently fail under these harsh conditions, suffering from severe screw wear, constant nozzle clogging, trapped air bubbles, and thermal degradation. To transform tough film waste into high-purity, uniform resin suitable for secondary pipe extrusion or blow molding, recyclers need a rugged, complete solution.
This case study highlights how a dedicated agricultural plastic recycling facility successfully conquered heavy contamination and high water content using Foshan Jiuxin Machinery’s Complete PP PE Film Recycling Machine Line.
The Core Challenge: Heavy Contamination & Excess Moisture
Processing raw agricultural mulch film involves three primary technical obstacles:
- Severe Abrasive Wear: Residual dirt and sand particles act as abrasives, rapidly wearing out conventional screw flights and barrel walls.
- Melt Trapped Moisture & Bubbles: Residual water inside the film turns into steam during heating, causing surging, voids, and brittle recycled pellets.
- Frequent Screen Clogging: High dirt content requires constant filter screen changes, leading to massive production downtime and operator labor.
The Solution: Foshan Jiuxin Complete Recycling System
To tackle these extreme working conditions, Foshan Jiuxin Machinery implemented a customized complete PP PE film recycling machine line engineered for high durability, powerful degassing, and continuous filtration.
Key Engineering Features & Solutions
- Integrated Force Compactor / Crammer Feeder: Lightweight, washed film flakes are densified using an integrated compactor before entering the extruder. This ensures full screw filling, stabilizing throughput for PE/PP films and bags.
- Double Degassing & High Vacuum Vents: Equipped with an extended L/D ratio barrel and multi-stage high vacuum degassing vents that aggressively strip out deep-seated water vapor, organic gases, and ink residues before pelletization. This produces dense, bubble-free granules.
- Heavy-Duty Bimetallic Screw & Barrel: Crafted with specialized bimetallic alloy coatings, Foshan Jiuxin screws are custom-alloyed to resist sand and abrasive mineral wear, maintaining tight tolerance and steady output over long operational lifespans.
- Non-Stop Hydraulic Screen Changer: Utilizes a large-surface-area continuous hydraulic filtration unit that allows the operator to swap filter screens without interrupting the extrusion line, significantly reducing downtime.
- Low-Temperature Eco-Friendly Processing: Gently melts PE agricultural films at strictly controlled lower temperature thresholds, preventing polymer chain breakdown, black spots, or acrid smoke emissions.
Project Performance & Results
After integrating the complete Foshan Jiuxin low-temperature eco-friendly pelletizing setup, the recycling plant achieved remarkable operational improvements:
- 35% Throughput Increase: Output stabilized at 60 kg/h for wet agricultural PE film and PP woven bags without screw starvation.
- Zero Thermal Carbonization: Pellets maintained high clarity, uniform size, and zero color degradation or black spots, opening up premium pricing tiers for the final resin.
- 50% Longer Component Lifespan: Bimetallic wear protection drastically reduced barrel replacement frequency despite the high sand content of the input material.
Ready to turn waste PP/PE films into high-purity, profitable resin?Contact Foshan Jiuxin Machinery Todayto consult with our technical engineers and request a custom machinery proposal.