Polystar line offers plastics reprocessing options

Polystar Machinery Co. Ltd. says both its cutter-compactor and shredder models are gaining popularity globally with recyclers and reprocessors of plastic scrap.

Jack Lin, vice president of global sales with the Taiwan-based equipment company, says the Polystar Repro-Flex cutter-compactor “has a clear advantage, especially for larger-sized recycling extruders.” Through natural heat and friction generated from the machine’s rotation, “it can quickly compact and densify the light-weighted material into a more solid form to be fed into the extruder at a constant rate,” Lin says.

“As of today, 1,200 Repro-Flex recycling machines are in operation worldwide,” Lin says, adding that for recyclers who process washed and fully printed postconsumer scrap, Polystar offers an option of adding a second extruder to the Repro-Flex model.

“The two-stage model Repro-Flex Plus has a total of three degassing zones and two filtration steps throughout the entire recycling process,” Lin says. “This model is also ideal for processing post-industrial laminated or multi-layered [scrap].”

Also gaining popularity, Lin says, is Polystar Repro-One recycling technology, which “is a combination of shredder, extruder and pelletizer in one machine.”

Lin continues, “This one-step, powerful (shredder) yet gentle (low processing temperature) process produces the best possible pellet quality at the lowest operation cost, enabling producers to reuse all of the pellets back in polypropylene (PP) tape extrusion lines.”

He adds, “When processing post-consumer materials, the cutter-compactor reduces the ink and moisture level of the material coming from the washing lines, such as washed flakes (from film and woven bags) as well as regrind [scrap] from milk and shampoo bottles. At the same time, it stabilizes the material being fed into the extrusion pelletizing line to ensure consistent production output and better pellets quality.”

Lin says increased investments in automation in India has made that nation a growing market for Polystar, “especially for PP raffia [sacks], woven bags, and flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) producers.” More than 105 Repro-One recycling machines have been installed in India, and 350 more in other parts of the world, adds the sales executive.

Lin says Polystar has added a third production facility in Taiwan, making it “able to better serve our customers with faster machine delivery time and in-time spare parts support.”

“As the demand for recycling machines remains strong, Polystar continues to prepare in-stock recycling machines and spare parts to avoid long delivery times, providing our worldwide customers with simple solutions," Lin says.