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.

Our partners EUR.EX.MA have over 25 years’ experience in developing customised extrusion solutions for R&D laboratories and small-to-medium scale production.

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 stabilise 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.

TEST YOUR MATERIALS THROUGH OUR LINES

Contact us to plan a visit to Eur.Ex.Ma’s testing facility. You can assess your material processability and obtain samples for functional and qualitative validation.

The post Why test your recycled plastic? first appeared on UK Extrusion.