Post-Consumer Plastic Recycling – Shredders for Efficiently Processing Household Plastic Waste

With rotor lengths of 1,400 to 2,200 mm, the shredders in the W5 series shred large-volume plastic tanks and plastic garbage cans with ease. The hydraulically upward pivoting screen basket and the inspection flap allow foreign objects to be removed quickly and facilitate maintenance. Large quantities of plastic flakes can be transported via the wide conveyor belt cut-out.

With their extremely sturdy design and large rotor diameters of up to 700 mm, shredders of the S7 series offer almost unlimited possibilities for the shredding of plastic waste.
They are up to any challenge and can be equipped with a powerful hydraulic drive.

The machines in the PowerLine series can be used universally. Variable equipment and sizes enable precise adaptation to your specific requirements. The counter knives are user-friendly and can be adjusted from the outside and are protected by an additional cover plate.

The key difference lies in the origin of the plastic waste. Post-consumer recycling (PCR) is the recycling of used plastic waste that is generated after use by end consumers. This primarily includes plastic packaging from the Yellow Bag, black and yellow waste garbage cans or other household collection systems. After sorting, cleaning and processing, post-consumer recyclates are produced, which are used as raw materials for new products. This contrasts with post-industrial recycling (PIR).
Here, industrial plastic waste, such as production surpluses, stamping scrap, sprues or rejects, is collected directly during the manufacturing process and then fed back into production.
This closed material cycle is particularly resource-efficient and aims to avoid waste and make full use of valuable raw materials.

Over 85 percent of the 6.28 million tons of plastic waste generated in Germany each year comes from the post-consumer sector. This refers to plastics that have already been used by consumers and then disposed of. This particularly often involves sales packaging such as PET bottles, cups, trays, tubes and various types of packaging film.
Styrofoam residues made of expanded polystyrene (EPS) and smaller hard plastic products – such as toys, household items or closures – are also included.
These post-consumer plastics enter the recycling process via the yellow bag or the yellow recycling garbage can.

Umweltbundesamt | ZDF

In order to turn used plastics into valuable recyclates or regranulates, they must first be reduced to a flake size that is as homogeneous as possible.
However, this is not always easy. Many waste streams contain unwanted foreign matter, which is often hidden in compressed bales. The material quality also varies greatly – be it due to high residual moisture, heavy contamination or unfavorable material combinations.
Such mixed fractions pose particular challenges for recyclers. WEIMA offers robust shredder solutions for these requirements, which are designed for use with post-consumer plastic waste. The result is a uniform starting material for further processing – for example in washing systems, extruders or regranulation lines.

Rigid plastics are robust non-packaging plastics that are produced using thermoforming, injection molding or extrusion processes. In the post-consumer sector, these include everyday products such as buckets, watering cans, flower pots, laundry baskets and garden furniture.
Despite their high raw material value, many discarded hard plastics end up in residual waste, yellow bags or even bulky waste after use and are often thermally recycled. The better solution is to recycle post-consumer rigid plastics. A WEIMA shredder shreds the material into high-quality plastic flakes, which serve as the basis for recyclate and new recycling products. This is how the circular economy is put into practice.

Regranulates and recyclates made from post-consumer plastics have long been an integral part of numerous everyday products.
Modern processes enable the production of high-quality plastic products from secondary raw materials.
Recyclates are used, for example, in packaging solutions such as films, bottles or blister packs. Products for the garden and household sector – such as buckets, storage boxes or garbage cans – are also often made largely from recycled plastic. In the construction industry, they are used for the production of pipes and cable protection systems. Components made from post-consumer plastics can even be found in the automotive sector, for example in interior trim. The recycling of used plastic products is a central component of the circular economy and, thanks to suitable shredding solutions from WEIMA, what appears to be waste becomes a valuable raw material for the future.