Since post-consumer PET bottles are usually baled before being shipped to washing / recycling plants, the first step in most PET bottle recycling lines is to break the bales so the bottles can flow freely onto a conveyor system.

For semi-automatic recycling lines without a bale opener, PET bottle bales are manually opened and placed onto the conveyor system. This requires around 1-5+ operators depending on the capacity of the recycling line. While this is a perfectly sound solution for countries where the cost of manual labor is low, it’s a headache for countries where the cost of manual labor is very expensive.

How It Works

Luckily, the bale opener can automate this process reducing the number of operators needed to run a recycling plant. The bale opener works by having multiple slow rotating hooks that grapple onto the PET bottles digging them away from the bottle bales. At the same time, the hooks grapple onto the wires that hold the bales together pulling entire bales apart.

The operation of the bale opener is very simple, using a forklift or similar machinery, entire PET bottle bales can be dropped into the bale opener’s vertical feeder. A conveyor system resides below the bale opener to collect and transport the loose plastic bottles onto the next piece of recycling machinery.

Specifications

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Placing An Order

For single machinery orders, the lead time is generally 30 days. For complete PET recycling lines, the lead time is generally between 60 – 90 days. For custom projects, the lead time will be based on the complexity of the project. The above are estimated lead times, final lead times will be based on the number of equipment we have in queue at the time of your purchase.

Contact us to discuss pricing and ordering details. You can also learn more about our ordering procedures.