In plastic recycling, the challenge is not only to process a material — it is to make its behavior predictable and repeatable.
Post-consumer flakes, production scrap, contaminated films: every batch introduces variability.
The result? Process instability, inconsistent quality, and challenges during scale-up.
That’s why more and more R&D and quality control teams are introducing a key upstream step:replicating the entire recycling process at laboratory scale.
Not to produce, but to understand, validate, and make informed decisions in advance.
FROM FLAKES TO PRODUCT: CHALLENGES AND APPROACH
Step 1: material preparation
Feedstock variability (particle size, contamination) affects stability from the very first stages. Without proper upstream control, downstream testing quickly loses its value.
Replicating material preparation in the lab makes it possible to start from real flakes or production scrap and obtain a consistent particle size distribution — for example using laboratory mills.
Step 2: regranulation
Recycled material can show significant instability: variable viscosity, presence of volatiles, degradation.
The result is often a material that is difficult to process consistently.
Testing different strategies at lab scale makes it possible to stabilize the material and adapt it to the final application, using single-screw or co-rotating twin-screw extruders, configured according to the specific objectives.
Step 3: validation in application
The real test is how the material behaves in the final process — this is where defects and instabilities actually appear.
Replicating applications in the lab enables meaningful validation through processes such as:
•cast film, for surface quality and defect analysis
•blown film, to evaluate stability and processability
• 3D filament, to verify continuity and printability
•filter testing, to assess contamination levels.
FROM APPROACH TO PRACTICE
At EUR.EX.MA, we develop solutions that allow our customers to recreate the entire recycling chain at laboratory scale, while maintaining conditions consistent with the industrial process.
Rather than focusing on a single machine, the goal is to provide a complete and flexible workflow, tailored to the material and the application: from preparation through to final validation.
PRSE 2026
On May 5–6, we will bring a concrete example of this approach to the show, featuring a bench-top cast film line to demonstrate material validation directly in application.
If you work with recycled materials and need reliable data before scale-up, come and visit us at our booth:Booth J121