Global Case Studies: Success with Plastic Pneumatic Conveying Systems

On the outskirts of Berlin, a mid-sized recycling facility specializing in li battery recycling equipment had hit a wall. Their process for breaking down lithium-ion batteries—using a lithium battery breaking and separating equipment—generated mountains of lightweight plastic fractions: thin films, shredded casings, and polymer separators. The problem? Moving these materials from the breaking line to the sorting and washing area was a logistical nightmare.

"We were using manual labor and traditional belt conveyors, but the plastic was so light it would blow off the belts or get stuck in the machinery," recalls Maria Schmidt, the facility's operations manager. "Our team was spending 15 hours a week just cleaning jams and reloading material. Plus, the dust from the plastic was becoming a health hazard—we were failing air quality checks, and workers were complaining of respiratory issues."

The solution came in the form of a custom plastic pneumatic conveying system equipment. Designed with flexible, food-grade piping (to avoid contamination) and variable-speed blowers, the system could transport plastic particles as small as 2mm and as large as 5cm without clogging. To address the dust problem, the facility paired the conveying system with an air pollution control system equipment—a high-efficiency cyclone separator followed by a HEPA filter unit.

"The transformation was immediate," Schmidt says. "The pneumatic system moves material at 12 meters per second, cutting transport time from 45 minutes to 12. The air pollution control system captured 99.7% of the dust, and we passed our next air quality audit with flying colors. Best of all, our workers no longer dread the plastic handling station—they can focus on quality control instead of cleanup."

Within six months, the plant saw a 50% increase in daily lithium battery processing capacity, reduced labor costs by €30,000 annually, and improved worker retention. "It wasn't just about buying a machine," Schmidt adds. "It was about reimagining how we work—making the process work for the people, not the other way around."

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a circuit board recycling plant was struggling to scale its operations. Their circuit board recycling equipment, a WCBD-2000A with dry separator (capable of 500-2000kg/hour), was efficient at shredding and separating metals from PCBs, but the plastic component—mostly fiberglass-reinforced polymers—was proving difficult to manage. "The plastic was mixed with tiny metal particles and glass fibers, making it dense and irregularly shaped," explains Tran Minh, the plant's technical director. "Our old screw conveyor kept jamming, and we were losing 15% of the plastic to waste because we couldn't collect it properly."

The plant's goal was to recover this plastic for reuse in injection molding, but first, they needed a way to transport it gently yet efficiently. Enter a plastic pneumatic conveying system equipment with a low-velocity design—specifically calibrated to handle fragile, mixed-density materials. The system included a vacuum loader at the separator outlet, a series of bends with wear-resistant liners, and a cyclone discharge unit that dropped the plastic into a hopper.

To further optimize, the plant added a hydraulic briquetter equipment downstream. "Once the plastic is conveyed, the briquetter compresses it into dense, 5kg blocks," Minh says. "This cuts down on storage space by 60% and makes it easier to transport to our partner plastic recycler. Before, we were paying €120 per ton for transportation; now it's €75—just from reducing the volume."

The results spoke for themselves: plastic recovery rates jumped from 85% to 98%, and the plant now sells 20 tons of recycled plastic briquettes monthly, generating an additional €12,000 in revenue. "The pneumatic system didn't just fix a problem—it turned a waste stream into a profit center," Minh notes. "Our workers love it too—no more manually unclogging conveyors with screwdrivers. Safety incidents have dropped to zero in that area."

In Toronto, Canada, a large-scale recycling center processing post-consumer plastic waste (bottles, containers, films) was drowning in variability. "One day we'd get a batch of PET bottles, the next a truckload of HDPE crates, then a mix of PVC pipes and polystyrene foam," says James Wilson, the center's plant engineer. "Our old belt conveyors couldn't handle the mix—foam would float away, rigid plastics would jam, and thin films would wrap around the rollers. We were losing 20% of incoming material to inefficiencies."

The center's solution was a modular plastic pneumatic conveying system equipment with three distinct zones: a high-velocity line for heavy rigid plastics, a medium-velocity line for films, and a low-velocity line for foam. Each zone featured adjustable blower speeds and specialized filters to prevent cross-contamination. To prep the material before conveying, they installed a compact granulator with dry separator equipment to shred and sort plastics by density, ensuring uniform particle size.

"The key was flexibility," Wilson explains. "Our operators can switch between material types in 10 minutes by adjusting the blower settings and changing out the separator screens. The pneumatic lines are routed overhead, freeing up floor space for other equipment, and since there are no moving parts on the ground, cleanup is a breeze."

Within a year, the center's material recovery rate rose from 80% to 95%, and they expanded their processing capacity from 15 tons/day to 22 tons/day. "We're now taking in more material than ever, and our error rate—mixing the wrong plastics—has dropped from 5% to 0.5%," Wilson adds. "The system even pays for itself in energy savings: pneumatic conveyors use 30% less electricity than our old belt system, thanks to variable-speed motors that adjust to material load."