Plastic Film Recycling
& Pelletizing Lines

The most commonly recycled materials are LDPE, HDPE and LLDPE blown film — including shopping bags, garbage bags, agricultural mulch film, greenhouse film and industrial stretch film. PP woven bags and raffia can also be processed with a shredder-integrated system. The right line configuration depends on your specific material type and contamination level.

Yes. Printed film can be recycled, but print coverage affects which system is appropriate. For film with up to approximately 30% print coverage, a single-stage system with standard degassing is typically sufficient. For heavily printed film (30–100% coverage) or post-consumer mixed streams, a two-stage system with enhanced degassing and double-pass filtration is recommended to achieve acceptable pellet quality.

A single-stage system extrudes and pelletizes in one pass — suitable for clean or lightly contaminated in-house film waste. A two-stage system passes the melt through a second extrusion and filtration stage, providing additional degassing and contaminant removal. Two-stage systems produce higher-purity pellets from more challenging waste streams, at a higher equipment cost and energy input.

Yes, with appropriate blending. Recycled pellets are typically blended with virgin resin at a ratio determined by the target application and quality requirements. For non-food industrial film and garbage bags, higher recycled content ratios are commonly used. For applications with surface quality or print requirements, a lower blend ratio is standard. The pellets from a well-specified recycling line are compatible with standard blown film extrusion conditions.

In a typical blown film operation, edge trim, start-up purge and rejected rolls account for approximately 3–8% of total material throughput. The majority of this material is recoverable through pelletizing, depending on contamination level and material consistency. Actual recovery rates vary by line configuration, product changeover frequency and operator practice.

For heavily soiled agricultural film — mulch film with soil and organic contamination, or greenhouse film with significant dirt loading — a washing and drying line upstream of the pelletizing system is strongly recommended. Without pre-washing, soil contamination reduces pellet quality and accelerates wear on the extrusion and filtration components. Washing line integration is available as part of the agricultural film recycling configuration. Contact LayerQuestar Machinery to discuss your specific contamination level.

The required recycling line capacity is determined by your blown film line's total throughput and your scrap rate. As a general reference: a blown film line producing 200 kg/h with a 5% scrap rate generates approximately 10 kg/h of recyclable waste. A factory with multiple lines or higher scrap rates will require proportionally higher recycling capacity. Share your production volume and line count with LayerQuestar Machinery and we will size the system accordingly.

LayerQuestar Machinery supplies recycling and pelletizing lines as part of a complete flexible packaging equipment offer. We assess your waste stream, specify the appropriate system, coordinate supply and commissioning, and provide after-sales support through the same network that supports our blown film machines, bag making machines and flexographic printers. Spare parts and remote technical support are available as standard.