A washing line is the section of a plastic recycling plant that cleans shredded or ground waste before it is melted. It removes dirt, sand, labels, glue, food and oil residues, and foreign materials that would otherwise spoil the recycled granules.
A typical line combines several stages: a pre-wash to loosen heavy dirt, friction washers that scrub the flakes at high speed, float-sink tanks for density separation, an optional hot washing stage with caustic and detergent, rinsing, and mechanical and thermal drying. Washing is the most water-intensive step in recycling, so modern plants filter, treat and recirculate the water. Lucro operates dedicated washing centres, including one at Sarigam in Gujarat, where 95% of the water used is recycled, before the clean material moves to extrusion.
