PET washing and pelletizing line

Turning post-consumer PET bottles into food-grade pellets

Case study

PET washing and pelletizing line

An integrated intensive washing, separation and pelletizing line for post-consumer PET bottles and containers. The system produces food-grade R-PET pellets with controlled viscosity and stable color, ready for reintroduction into new packaging production.

Challenges

PET bottles contaminated with labels, caps, adhesives and organic residues

Food-grade quality requirement for final pellets, with strict viscosity and color control

Need for high throughput with optimized energy consumption

The Urstag solution

Multi-stage intensive washing

Hot and cold washing with detergent, intense friction and rinsing for complete removal of contaminants from flakes.

High-performance separation and drying

Float-sink separation of polyolefins (caps, labels), followed by centrifugal and thermal drying for minimal residual moisture.

Food-grade pelletizing

Extrusion with vacuum devolatilization and real-time viscosity control for pellets compliant with food contact requirements.

Results

Food-grade final material with consistent viscosity and color, ready for manufacturing new PET preforms and bottles. The line operates with optimized energy consumption and produces pellets sellable at a premium price.