Flakes are the small pieces, typically around a centimetre across, that result when sorted plastic waste is shredded or ground. Once washed and dried, clean flakes are the intermediate product between a bale of waste and finished recycled granules.
Rigid plastics such as bottles and crates give hard, chunky flakes, often called regrind. Film gives thin, light flakes that usually need agglomeration before they can be extruded. Flake quality is judged by colour consistency, moisture, and how much label, dust or foreign polymer remains after the washing line. Some flakes are sold directly to moulders, but most are melted, filtered and turned into granules through extrusion.
