Cleaning and personal care products are mostly packaged in HDPE contaniers.
HDPE CLEANING BOTTLES
- COLLECTING
HDPE household waste is very often collected together with other types of plastic packaging & packaging materials (e.g. metals).
Deposit Collected material is transported to a sorting centre where HDPE is sorted out and baled in preparation for recycling.
- SORTING
Sorting centres sort plastic fractions according to given specifications, using Near-Infra-Red (NIR) technology. Different polymer types and materials, including contaminants (e.g. metals) are sorted out and HDPE is baled in preparation for transportation.
At a recycling plant, incoming bales undergo quality checks before they are fed to a recycling line.
3.GRINDING
Prior to grinding, recyclers can further sort out materials by colour or sort out the rest of
impurities. HDPE material is then ground into flakes.
The TOP range and the EASY POWER range in the WET versions represent the best of BRUNO FOLCIERI technology. These are plastic granulators particularly suitable for grinding strong waste.
The TOP line, in the WET version, is suitable for grinding contaminated plastic materials.
It is recognized by the recyclers market and plastic companies for its build quality; for its high productivity, durability over time due to an oversized mechanism that guarantees its sturdiness. In its design, particular attention was paid to the protection of the operator, equipping the machinery with automatic safety devices that ensure easy and safe use. Maintenance is also facilitated by direct access to the rotor which allows you to inspect the machine for both cleaning and quick replacement of the blades.
Various configurations are also available which can be customized.
- WASHING & FLOTATION
After grinding the flakes are washed. During this process remaining impurities (>1g/cm3) and plastic types, other than PE and PP, are removed via density separation techniques.
5.DRYING
Washed flakes are then dried.
rHDPE can be used in the production of new containers, as well as for products with a long lifespan such as pipes. HDPE is then shredded and melted down to further refine the polymer. The plastic is then cooled into pellets which can be used in manufacturing.
Recycling plants can also benefit from the use of a baler, which can compress the post-consumer waste to minimize the energy used in transport.
Small steps at home can also be taken to recycle HDPE. With regards to milk bottles, these can easily be reused if washed out thoroughly first. To reduce packaging waste, buying plastic bottles in bulk is another good option.
Equally, carrier bags can also be reused when going shopping. Many large supermarkets also offer collection points for used carrier bags to be recycled. Some plastic films contain a message to recycle these with carrier bags at the supermarket and not to leave ‘kerbside’.
Recycling of HDPE is aided by the resin code on the product, which is an indiscriminate number assigned to different plastic polymers to help separate plastics at the recycling stage.