In the push toward a fully circular economy, there’s a persistent misconception: that every piece of plastic, regardless of its type, can be recycled indefinitely.
At Polymer Processors, our role as Australia’s largest independent recycler is to provide scalable, high-quality solutions for Australian manufacturing. To maintain the purity and consistency of our finished recycled pellets (HDPE, LDPE, PP), we must be ruthlessly selective about the materials we bring in.
We believe that true partnership starts with honesty. Here is a guide to the plastics that currently pose the greatest challenge for our advanced mechanical recycling facility, and why this transparency benefits your business.
The Mechanical Recycling Imperative
Mechanical recycling relies on a fundamental principle: the raw material must consist of a single polymer type (or a known blend) that can be washed, melted, and filtered into a new, homogeneous pellet.
If a batch contains too many different polymers or complex structures, the material breaks down unevenly in the extruder, resulting in a pellet that is weak, inconsistent, and unusable for high-specification manufacturing.
Here are three primary waste streams that currently fall outside our scope:
Multi-Layer and Composite Films
These are the clear, thin films used in common food packaging (e.g., chip packets, coffee sachets). They are chemically engineered for performance, often containing layers of different plastics (like PET, PE, and sometimes foil) fused together to maintain freshness.
The Challenge: Since these polymers have different melting points, they cannot be melted and reformed together cleanly. They create “gels” and impurities that ruin the consistency of the final pellet, making them unsuitable for manufacturing.
The Future: These streams will eventually be handled by advanced chemical recycling, but the infrastructure for that technology is still scaling in Australia.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
PVC is a durable plastic used in many non-packaging applications (such as window frames, some piping, or medical products).
The Challenge: PVC contains chlorine. When melted at the high temperatures required for recycling, it can release hydrogen chloride gas. This poses both an operational risk (damaging expensive machinery) and a quality risk (degrading the surrounding polymer batch). For this reason, we strictly exclude PVC from our processing lines.
Heavily Contaminated and Undifferentiated Mixed Plastics
While we specialise in difficult-to-clean materials (like cotton module wrap or agricultural film), there are limits.
The Challenge: Material that is excessively mixed with non-plastics (metals, wood, organic refuse) or is an unknown blend of multiple, random polymer types is commercially unviable. The cost of segregation and purification outweighs the value of the resulting pellet, forcing that material stream to landfill.
Our Focus: Expertise in HDPE, LDPE, and PP
Our transparency on what we can’t take is a testament to the quality of what we do deliver.
By strictly focusing our significant capacity on HDPE, LDPE, and PP, we ensure our process is optimised to produce a consistent, predictable, and technically superior recycled pellet. Our dedication is to these streams—the core materials that truly power Australian manufacturing.
For B2B Suppliers: If you generate clean, segregated volumes of HDPE, LDPE, or PP, you are holding the exact material that creates maximum value in the circular economy.
By knowing our limitations, we strengthen our expertise, ensuring that every tonne of plastic we accept is transformed into a reliable raw material that successfully displaces virgin plastic.
Contact us today to discuss your clean, segregated waste streams and secure a high-value recycling solution.