PET Bottle Recycling
A PET bottles hot washing line uses high-temperature caustic washing, friction cleaning and multi-stage rinsing to remove glue, oil, labels and impurities, producing high-purity PET flakes suitable for fiber, sheet, pelletizing and higher-value recycling applications.
Product Overview
A PET bottle washing line prepares collected bottles for reuse as recycled flake. It brings material preparation, size reduction, washing, separation and water removal into a coordinated equipment package.
The right starting point is your input stream: loose bottles or bales, color mix, label construction and the level of non-PET material. The output target matters just as much. A fiber application and a sheet application may require different sorting and cleaning decisions.
Your Production Challenges
Cold washing fails to remove strong adhesives, label residue, oils, and organic stains. Our hot washing system operates at 80–95°C with caustic soda, effectively emulsifying and stripping off stubborn contaminants for superior cleanliness.
Mixed impurities (PP/PE caps, paper, sand, PVC) lead to heavy price penalties from downstream buyers. Integrated trommel, label remover, sink-float separation, friction washing, and label separators significantly reduce impurity levels, ensuring high-purity PET flakes.
Wet flakes increase drying costs and risk hydrolysis during subsequent extrusion or spinning. High-efficiency centrifugal dewatering and thermal drying reduce moisture to <1%, saving energy and protecting material quality.
Poor quality cold-washed flakes are limited to low-value applications, reducing profit margins. Upgraded flake quality enables access to high-value markets like fiber, sheet, strapping, and food-grade rPET pre-processing.
Variable raw material quality causes frequent downtime and inconsistent output. Automated control and multi-stage washing ensure stable, continuous operation and consistent flake quality, regardless of raw material variations.
Limited workshop space, complicated equipment layout, and lengthy on-site installation & commissioning delay your project launch. We provide customized compact layout design for the PET Bottle Recycling Washing Line. Remote technical guidance and standardized operating training shorten commissioning time and cut site construction cost.
Technical Parameters
The quotation specifies the equipment schedule, utility requirements and agreed performance conditions.
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| Capacity | Water Required | Man Power | Area Required (Customized) | Line Layout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5T/H | 1.5T/h | 4 people | 35*10*6m | L/U/Straight line |
| 1T/H | 2T/h | 6 people | 45*10*6m | L/U/Straight line |
| 1.5T/H | 3T/h | 8 people | 55*15*8m | L/U/Straight line |
| 2T/H | 4T/h | 10 people | 85*10*8m | L/U/Straight line |
| 3T/H | 6T/h | 12 people | 100*35*10m | L/U/Straight line |
| 8-16T/H | Depends on raw material | Depends on automation level | Customized on project | L/U/Straight line |
Core Advantages
Use each cleaning stage for a defined contaminant rather than assuming a longer line alone guarantees the required flake quality.
Review density separation, transfer and rinse arrangement together so removed contaminants do not re-enter the product stream.
Set measurable output acceptance criteria and identify the downstream process before finalizing the line.
Process Flow
Each stage has a specific job. The final sequence is selected for your feedstock and plant layout.
Removes non-PET materials, obvious contaminants, and unsuitable bottles to protect downstream equipment and improve flake purity.
Strips labels and shrink films from PET bottles before crushing, reducing label contamination in the final flakes.
Detects and removes metal objects such as iron, copper and aluminum to prevent damage to the crusher and other equipment.
Crushes cleaned PET bottles into small flakes, typically 12–18 mm, to prepare them for efficient washing and separation.
Separates PET flakes from lighter contaminants such as PP/PE caps, films and label fragments by density difference.
Removes surface water from flakes after pre-washing, reducing carry-over water and improving hot washing efficiency.
Further removes remaining label pieces, light films and fine floating impurities to increase PET flake purity.
Washes flakes at 80–95°C with caustic solution to remove glue, oil, grease, food residue and other stubborn contaminants.
Uses high-speed mechanical friction to peel off residual dirt, adhesive and surface contaminants from PET flakes.
Washes away residual chemicals, suspended impurities and floating materials, ensuring clean flakes with low residual pH.
Reduces flake moisture through centrifugal dewatering and thermal drying, typically to below 1%, for stable storage and downstream processing.
Removes light impurities, dust, remaining label fragments, off-color and non-PET flakes to improve final product grade.
Delivers clean, dry and high-purity PET flakes ready for fiber, sheet, strapping, pelletizing or higher-value recycling applications.
The process shown is a planning route. Sorting position, wash sequence, hot-wash scope and water treatment are reviewed against bottle condition, site utilities and your output specification.
Materials & Applications
Processing waste drinking bottles with varying labels, caps and contaminant levels.
Produce clean PET flakes as feedstock for polyester fiber spinning.
High-quality PET flakes for plastic strapping band and sheet extrusion.
Well-washed low-moisture flakes ready for re-pelletizing and compounding.
Advanced washing setup to meet strict purity requirements for food-contact PET.
Recover PET materials from industrial scrap and sorted municipal solid waste.
Who This Line Is For
Fiber, pellet, strapping and sheet producers requiring qualified rPET flake feedstock.
Waste plastic recyclers and sorting centers handling post-consumer PET bottle bales.
Beverage packaging firms and overseas investors planning new PET recycling projects.
Project Reference
A reference illustrates one project configuration. Your material and acceptance criteria determine your own line specification.
The customer runs a recycled PSF production plant. They needed stable, high-cleanliness PET flakes as raw material for polyester staple fiber manufacturing. Local waste PET bottles contain heavy glue, label residues and mixed impurities, which required a complete hot washing system to meet flake quality standards for PSF spinning.
Read Published CasePacking, Delivery & Support
Price Influencing Factors
A complete line is priced against a defined equipment and service scope. Send the details below for an itemized quotation.
Line price varies according to hourly throughput, ranging from 0.5T/H up to 16T/H for different production targets.
Choose stainless steel or carbon steel construction. Stainless steel delivers better corrosion resistance for hot washing environments.
The line can be fully customized. Add or remove equipment units based on raw material condition and final flake purity requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
1 year for free (except wearing parts).
Stainless steel and carbon steel as required.
PET Straps, PET Bottles, PET Trays etc.
We are manufacturer in China.
We are in Hanchuan City, Hubei province, China. All our clients, from home or abroad are warmly welcome to visit us!
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