NewsCustomer StoriesRecycling MachineAir-cooling pelletizer increases reusability % back to bag productionAir-cooling pelletizer increases reusability % back to bag production
The air-cooled pelletizing recycling machine Repro-Air has proven to be a big cost-saver for two of the largest PE bag producers located in Solo, Indonesia – Cahaya Kharisma and Djerapah Plastindo. According to the well-known HDPE and LDPE bag producers, the air-cooled pelletizing technology is even better than water-cooled recycling machines for some applications, especially for the recycling of HDPE and LDPE non-printed film.
Recycling without water
Having clean and fresh water supply could be an issue for some producers in Indonesia and creates the following two problems:
(1) The recycled plastic pellets are “contaminated” by the water and therefore affect the product quality when used back again in HDPE and LDPE film and bag production.
(2) The water could easily clog the filters of the water circulation systems and affect the production stability. It also disturbs the cooling effect for larger-sized plastic recycling machines using water cooling.
The Repro-Air model was designed to solve the above issues by using the air-cooled pelletizer. The entire process - from material feeding, extrusion to pelletizing is completely water-free. Not only does this solve the water contamination problem (to the recycled pellets), but also saves a significant amount of water consumption to reduce overall operation cost.
Both of the Solo-based plastic bag producers have already installed more than one air-cooling pelletizer after having witnessed the benefits and cost saving of the first installation.
Higher reusability back to production lines
When sharing their feedback on using the air-cooling pelletizing equipment, our customer that produce 2,000 tones/month told us the key benefit is that they can now use more recycled pellets back to the blown film machines.
“Before we were using, for example, 9% (in-house) recycled material to produce the PE film quality that we needed to produce. After switching to recycling with the air-cooled pelletizing machine, we can now use 15%-18% recycled material to produce the exact same film quality,” said Mr. Henrix, production director of the Indonesian producer who now has 5 production facilities in Solo. “This was not possible before with other recycling machines, and we are able to reduce cost because less virgin material is used.”
Cahaya Kharisma now recycles HDPE film in the form of both film-on-roll (defected rolls) with automatic feeding and bag punch-off (manually) with the air-cooled pelletizing machine. The recycled pellets produced are 100% dry without any moisture on the surface and therefore, can be reused again immediately back into the blown film machines while the plastic pellets are still hot.
“We don’t have to worry about the water moisture on the pellets surface that normally come from water-cooled based recycling machine, mentioned Mr. Hendrix, “the pellets are also less contaminated because there’s no water contact throughout the entire recycling process.”
Speaking about the benefits from a marketing perspective, he emphasized that “the main advantage is even if we use the same percentage of recycled material, we are able to produce better film quality without increasing the cost of material,” Mr. Hendrix added, “this gives us a competitive advantage in the market and our customers are happier when we offer better-quality HDPE and LDPE bags at the same price.
Space saving. Simple installation. Anywhere in your factory
The Repro-Air has a very compact design. This small pelletizing machine can fit right next the production lines such as bag making machines and blown film machines. It does not need a separate room or space to place a larger recycling machine and therefore, making the addition of this air-cooled pelletizing machine is very simple and fast.
The pelletizer is not disassembled for shipment, it can be quickly self-installed upon machine arrival (plug-and-run). This energy saving machine requires only 22kw power consumption and operates without water.
Video of the Repro-Air pelletizer :
Suitable for PE producers of all sizes. Small yet useful
Although the output capacity is only 40-50 kg/hr for this air-cooled pelletizer, it is still extremely useful even for large-scaled PE film and bag producers. For companies that have several factory locations or large factory areas, the Repro-Air can be placed in one of the factories or a specific factory area focused on recycling only one type of product.
“We run only one type of material on this pelletizing line at a time: Un-printed, transparent LDPE film on roll, and we run it 24/7 without mixing it with any other materials with colors or printing. This way we do not waste any material and do not need to change the machine settings,” explained the factory manager of the Solo-based producer who is always looking to increase efficiency and reduce production cost. “For more complicated materials in different shapes like printed PP, powder and others, we collect them and run it on the bigger plastic pelletizers Repro-Flex 120.
Out of the 479 Repro-Air recycling machines that POLYSTAR has installed worldwide, about 50% are for producers ranging from 100-300 tons/month, 35% are for 300-700 tons/month, and 15% are for producers over 1,000 tons/month who use the combination of Repro-Air and Repro-Flex pelletizing machines. In the case of the Indonesia-based PE film producer, a combination of two Repro-Air, one Repro-Flex 120 and one Repro-Flex 85 pelletizers are used, installed in different factories dedicated to reprocess different types of plastic materials.
Fast delivery. Faster return on investment
The delivery time of the air-cooled pelletizing machine is only 30 days upon order confirmation, thanks to the highly standardized design. On average, the return on investment is only 6-10 months, proving that post-industrial HDPE and LDPE film recycling can be extremely cost-effective when done correctly.
Videos of Repro-Air processing different materials:
- Check out all the details of our Repro-Air Recycling Machine
- Read more about Repro-Flex installations in Indonesia (for higher capacity machines)