High-Performance HDPE Bottle Washing & Recycling Line

Our dedicated rotary de-labeling machine processes whole, baled, or loose bottles before they reach the granulator. Rotating blades adjust to bottle geometry to peel off over 98% of PVC/PET shrink sleeves and paper labels without puncturing or pulverizing the bottles. Removing labels prior to grinding prevents label scraps from contaminating flake wash water and clogging dewatering screens downstream.

Post-consumer HDPE bottles typically contain milk protein residues, motor oil, household chemicals, and stubborn adhesive glue. Ambient cold washing cannot dissolve oily films or glue residues, resulting in severe odor, discoloration, and structural degradation in recycled pellets. Rumtoo's continuous hot wash system maintains an 80–85°C alkaline bath (with mild NaOH and surfactant dosing) to saponify oils, dissolve adhesives, and neutralize odors completely.

Both HDPE (density ~0.94–0.96 g/cm³) and PP caps (density ~0.90–0.91 g/cm³) float in freshwater (density 1.0 g/cm³), while PET/PVC contaminants sink. Because HDPE and PP are both polyolefins, many pipe, sheet, and structural lumber molders can tolerate minor PP percentages. For bottle-to-bottle or high-specification blow molding, we integrate an upstream optical color/polymer sorter on whole bottles, or a secondary optical flake sorter after washing to isolate pure HDPE flakes.

Our wet granulator uses genuine D2 / SKD-11 high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel rotor and stator knives vacuum heat-treated to HRC 58–60. Because water continuously lubricates and cools the cutting zone during operation, blade life is extended by 2–3x compared to dry granulators. Under typical post-consumer bottle processing conditions, rotor knives run 400–600 hours between sharpenings, and each knife set can be reground 4–6 times before replacement.

The line achieves a final residual moisture level of ≤1.0% (and down to ≤0.8% with thermal air boost). This is achieved through a multi-stage mechanical drying sequence: first, a high-G horizontal centrifugal dryer strips free surface water to <1.5%, followed by an insulated hot air flash drying duct and zig-zag cyclone separator. Flakes can be directly fed into single-screw or twin-screw extruders without additional offline drying.

Operating a 1,000 kg/h HDPE washing line in an open loop would consume approximately 3–5 tons of water per hour. To minimize utility bills and environmental footprint, Rumtoo provides an integrated closed-loop water treatment system (including curved wedge-wire static screens, sedimentation tanks, and optional filter press). With recirculating loops, freshwater makeup is reduced to approximately 0.5–1.0 ton per ton of processed plastic.

Yes. Rumtoo HDPE bottle washing lines are engineered as modular polyolefin recycling plants. With minor adjustments to granulator screen hole diameters (typically 12–16 mm for thick-wall parts) and paddle speeds, the line efficiently washes PP beverage crates, injection-molded buckets, cosmetic bottles, and thermoformed PP containers.

A standard 1,000 kg/h HWL-1000 line requires approximately 42 meters in length, 6 meters in width, and a minimum ceiling clearance of 5.0 meters. Total installed power is approximately 195 kW (with actual operating consumption around 65–75% of connected load). Utilities require a 3-phase industrial power supply (380V/415V/480V 50/60Hz), industrial water supply with minimum 3 bar pressure, and optional steam connection (or electric heat exchangers) for the hot wash tank.