Photo: Willians Huerta / Pexels
A recycling line should be specified around the material it receives and the product it must deliver. Starting with a machine catalogue can lock the project into a process before either is understood. For a new line, extension or replacement, establish the duty and site limits first.
Describe the feedstock, including the difficult fraction
State the source: clean production scrap, collected packaging, dismantled products or mixed waste. “Plastic” or “wood” is not an adequate feed specification. Record material composition, contamination and variation across suppliers or production batches.
- Main material and secondary fractions, with the basis for the composition estimate.
- Contaminants such as metals, grit, labels, adhesives, oils or incompatible materials.
- Moisture and seasonal changes; identify whether reported mass is wet or dry.
- Largest item dimensions, thickness, shape, entanglement and incoming packaging.
- Bulk density where storage, hoppers or conveyors may be limiting.
- Prohibited and undesirable items, including batteries or pressurised containers where relevant; receiving controls and segregation arrangements.
- Normal, peak and adverse batches, supported by photographs and representative samples.
Do not submit a hand-cleaned sample as evidence of routine performance. On an existing line, include blockage, wear, rejection and downtime records. They help identify the duty that replacement equipment must actually handle.
Convert annual tonnage into usable hourly capacity
Annual tonnage describes supply. Required throughput depends on the hours available to process it. Separate scheduled shift time from useful processing time after planned maintenance, cleaning, changeovers and other stoppages.
An average does not specify what happens when a truck delivers 12 tonnes within two hours. Decide whether receiving storage buffers that peak or the process must match it. Use the delivery pattern, processing schedule and acceptable storage time to assess buffer requirements.
State future volumes, possible additional shifts and new materials separately. Capacity margin should serve a defined growth case. If your hours already represent net processing time, do not reduce them by an availability factor again.
Get the output specification from its next user
Define required size distribution, fines, purity, moisture, allowable contamination and packaging. Identify the buyer or downstream process, minimum lot size, sampling method and rejection conditions. A screen aperture is not a guarantee that every flexible or elongated particle has that dimension.
Name a destination for every output, including secondary fractions, fines and rejects. A high gross discharge rate is not the same as a high rate of accepted product. Do not fund the project on the assumption that everything leaving the line is saleable.
Build the process around the tasks it must perform
- Incoming material: receive, inspect and buffer
- Preparation: sort and meter the feed
- Size reduction where needed
- Separate target fractions and contaminants
- Verify the specified product quality
- Store, pack and dispatch the outputs
This is a conceptual sequence, not a mandatory equipment list. Some duties require only selected stages; others repeat stages or use a different order. Baling sorted cardboard is a different project from granulating contaminated plastic.
| Possible stage | What must justify it |
|---|---|
| Receiving and sorting | Which items must be removed before equipment is exposed to them? |
| Primary shredding | Which objects must be opened or reduced to feed the next stage? |
| Secondary shredding or granulation | What output distribution is required, at what wear and fines burden? |
| Screening | What oversize is returned, and how much recirculation load results? |
| Magnetic separation | Which ferrous fraction must be removed, and at which point? |
| Other separation | Which incompatible, light or non-ferrous fractions require a demonstrated separation? |
| Washing and drying, if needed | Does the contamination and end use justify water treatment and residue handling? |
| Extraction and conveying | What emissions, transfers, distances and intermediate stocks must be managed? |
The primary shredder’s rating does not establish line capacity. A separator, dryer, conveyor or packing station may be the bottleneck. Request stage duties on the specified feedstock, recirculation assumptions and the rate of compliant final product.
Plastic recycling: distinguish regrind, flakes and pellets
Tyre recycling: relate shredding and separation to the required output
Treat the building and utilities as part of the project
Allow for receiving, storage, forklift movements and maintenance, not just equipment footprints. Confirm clear height, delivery access, lifting arrangements, floor loading and space to remove major components. Existing buildings can constrain both layout and installation sequence.
- Electrical voltage, frequency, available capacity, starting demands and distribution.
- Compressed-air pressure, flow and quality where required.
- Water, treatment and drainage where the process uses them.
- Extraction, discharge and make-up air.
- Noise, dust, fire and combustible-dust assessment where applicable.
- Existing equipment interfaces: elevations, feed rates, controls, signals, stops and responsibilities.
Identify the applicable site approvals and competent safety reviews before fixing the design. The quotation must state who supplies foundations, guarding, electrical works, conveyors, extraction, controls and commissioning. A supply boundary is a commercial decision with engineering consequences.
Specify extraction duty alongside the process
Design for the team that will run it
Set staffing per shift and describe loading, supervision, sampling, cleaning and output handling. Define changeovers and how blocked equipment is safely isolated and returned to service. An automated line can shift labour requirements towards maintenance and control-system skills.
Request wear-part costs, routine service tasks, change intervals as assumptions, critical spare availability and support arrangements. Include planned maintenance windows and realistic downtime. Short batches and frequent material changes can favour a different configuration from continuous single-material operation.
Compare the investment per accepted output, not peak nameplate capacity
Installed CAPEX is only the beginning. Compare energy, labour, maintenance, consumables, downtime, material yield and product quality at the same duty. Spare capacity ties up capital; better quality is commercially useful only if the outlet needs and pays for it.
An annual cost divided by compliant tonnes can help compare proposals, provided both use the same boundaries. Also test lower supply, higher wear, poorer sales terms and a slower start-up. A technically faster line may be the weaker investment.
Build the waste-cost and equipment payback comparison
Project information checklist
- □ Feedstock: source, composition, contamination, moisture, dimensions, variability, photos and samples.
- □ Supply and time: tonnes/year, tonnes/day, delivery peaks, shifts, scheduled hours and useful hours.
- □ Growth: future quantities, shifts and additional materials.
- □ Product: size distribution, purity, moisture, test methods, packaging and buyer specification.
- □ Balance: main product, secondary outputs, rejects and destinations.
- □ Site: scaled plan, clear height, access, floor loading, storage, traffic and existing machinery.
- □ Utilities and constraints: electricity, compressed air, water, extraction, noise and safety.
- □ Operations: staffing, automation, cleaning, changeovers, maintenance and spares.
- □ Scope: civil works, installation, utility connections, training, exclusions and responsibilities.
- □ Acceptance: representative batch, duration, input rate, accepted output, quality, consumption and stoppage records.
MSR can review the feedstock, target throughput and site constraints to establish which equipment and process stages need to be studied. A representative trial and agreed acceptance criteria then turn planning assumptions into evidence for the investment.
MSR engineering studies and integration
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