Granulators are machines that chop small plastic products into fine particles. They are widely used in recycling facilities to prepare scrap and used plastic items for reuse. While shredders and grinders handle large, bulky materials, granulators are meant for smaller plastic items like drums, pipes, car bumpers, bottles, packaging materials, bags and defective plastic products.
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Shred-TechCambridge, ON 800-465-3214 Shred-Tech began as a small, modest shop in Cambridge, Ontario, and over the years were able to expand to a 67,000 sq. ft. facility, with an additional parts and service center in Apex, North Carolina. This expansion was made possible through quality service to customers, superior products, such as granulators, and a continuous effort to improvement through technology and innovation.
Vecoplan, LLCArchdale, NC 336-861-6070 Vecoplan models their company around the idea that dynamic markets will require dynamic thinking. For this reason they continuously work to develop future-proof technological solutions to keep their products relevant in the constantly changing world. They want only the best products going to customers whether it is granulators, or something even more complex.
SSI Shredding Systems, Inc.Wilsonville, OR 503-682-3633 Tackling the toughest shredding problems since 1980, SSI Shredding Systems designs, manufactures & supports today's most versatile industrial shredders & size reduction solutions. Our innovative engineering means a shredder for all needs: waste (including medical), metal, paper, tire, e-scrap, plastics, product/security destruction, construction & demolition (C&D). Patented shredding technology!
WEIMA® America, Inc.Fort Mill, SC 888-440-7170 For twenty-five years, WIEMA has been devoted to shredding and briquetting. And constantly improving these technologies is their passion. From granulators to much more complex machines, they have everything you need for waste reduction. Once you are ready to discover the perfect solution to your excess waste problems, call WEIMA for help getting started.
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Granulators
In many plastic processing operations, plastic products are chopped down in shredders or grinders, and the pieces are then put through a granulator where they are reduced to fine particles by a rotor with sharp blades. Granulators produce material that is round, fine and of a consistent size. For this reason, they are an important part of the recycling process. Quality plastic products require uniform raw material from which they process their products. Granulators are a way to ensure that used plastics can be remade into quality plastic products. Once shredded plastic has been granulated, the material is sold to plastic product manufacturing companies, which melt and form the granules into other plastic products. Most granulators are large and meant for industrial use only.
Depending on what products are being chopped, granulators may be horizontal or vertical in construction. Long items like house siding, pipes and profile extrusions are put through horizontal granulators, while all other smaller objects are fed into vertically oriented machines. The whole or shredded plastic products are fed through an opening into the granulator housing, where sharp blades reduce the plastic into small flakes ranging from .125 to .375 inches. The granules must be small enough to fall through a screen that acts as a sifter, or they are processed a second time. Granulators are powered by an electric motor and have the ability to change speeds and granule size easily. The closed chamber holds the blades and is often sound absorbing to decrease the process' noise volume. In order to function properly, the interior must be cleaned and the blades oiled on a regular basis. The granulating process is the first step in plastic forming operations, which require plastic material that may be easily melted into liquid form; the smaller the granules, the faster they are able to melt. The products are often pre-shred because it saves on operating costs and granulator downtime.
